Stake the Salvatores
by romeosareveryundependable
Summary: After Damon kills Hayley, Tyler is looking to exact some vengeance on the Salvatore brothers, a task that can't be undertaken alone. Enter Bonnie, looking to prove just how useless she isn't. And Jeremy, coming into his own power and hoping to use it.
1. I Want to Kill Damon and Stefan

**Summary: **After Damon kills Hayley, Tyler is looking to enact some vengeance on the Salvatore brothers, a task that can't be undertaken alone. Enter Bonnie, looking to prove just how useless she isn't.

**Disclaimer**: I own nothing.

**A/N: **After watching last week's vomit inducing episode, I decided that I could do better.

* * *

I Want to Kill

Tyler finds Bonnie.

Of all of them, she may be the only one to help him and he's not even sure of that. She's been dividing her time between school and another school (Whitmore College). Or at least that's what Caroline told him. But that was back when he was still talking to Caroline. He has Bonnie's phone number but he can't remember the last time they spoke over the phone. When he calls her, she doesn't answer and it goes straight to voicemail. He feels weird enough about calling and doesn't leave a message.

The last time he and Bonnie talked, it was when she was deciding to put Klaus in his body. You'd think something like that would bind people but nothing has changed between them.

Welcome to Mystic Falls, where someone can actually put another person in your body and take them out again but never speak to you again.

But Bonnie may be the only one who will help.

He'd ask Matt but he's so far up Elena's ass these days it would be a waste of time. He'd ask Jeremy now that he's an official hunter guy or whatever but that's a tossup and he doesn't want to risk him telling all to Elena. He'd ask Caroline even though she's a vampire, if Caroline cared.

_Chris isn't-_

Elena. A friend. Important. Anything.

No one is important unless Elena thinks they are important. Unless the Salvatores deem them important.

Hayley wasn't important.

Caroline seemed genuinely sorry about that. She cried even. But that's Caroline. She's quick to tears. But it didn't do anything to help. The hybrids Klaus left at the manor helped him bury what Damon left of her, or they tried to until Klaus yanked on that invisible chain and they all went running to do his bidding. Caroline wanted to take their place but Tyler sent her away, all the while trying not to scream, to throw things, to curse.

It took him so long to get away from that, away from the BL (Before Lycanthropy) Tyler. He's separated pieces of his life into neat categories. Or at least they _were_ neat. Before Lycanthropy. After Lycanthropy which now melds into Before Hybridism. Then he's got After Hybridism. After Sire Bond. After Hayley. After Hayley's murder.

He calls it a murder because that's what it is.

He buried Hayley alone at the edge of the Lockwood property with only three smoothed, rounded rocks to denote a grave.

Tyler knew she was never safe here. No one was but Hayley really wasn't. New people didn't seem to last long in Mystic Falls. People like him didn't seem to last long either. Mason. Jules. Hayley. Even Brady, as much as he'd deserved what came to him.

That's why he needs Bonnie.

She may understand.

Caroline filled him in long ago about Bonnie's Grams and her mom, the warlocks Jonah and Luka. He wondered if they should start comparing notes on how many people like them had died because of vampires. They could make lists, write essays, long ones detailing who they were and why they died and how useless their deaths had been in the end.

For a long time, Tyler knew Klaus was his enemy. Klaus, who hijacked his mind and his choices. Klaus, who wanted – still wants - Caroline. Even if Tyler didn't call the Salvatores friends, he hadn't _really_ considered them enemies since he became official with Caroline. The thought of Mason still gnaws at him but he believed Caroline when she said Mason was a threat to them, that they wouldn't have done it unless they had to. It's only now that Tyler realizes it was probably a lie.

Stefan and Damon said they had to kill Hayley too. And Tyler knew how untrue that was. He never cared much about Elena, some vague conversations had here and there while she was dating Matt and some polite exchanges over the course of years of town traditions. His entire relationship with Elena was founded on politeness of the vaguest sort. The fake kind. The-I've-known-you-since-childhood-and-must-show-some-loyalty politeness.

It's not enough anymore.

Tyler doesn't want to hurt Elena. Not really. Even in his mangled mental state, caught between mourning and rage, he knows what hurting Elena would do. He'd be more isolated than he is now. Not even Bonnie would help him. This town would go to war over Elena and then they wouldn't have to reenact anything anymore.

At Whitmore, Bonnie spends her time with a professor. Atticus Shane. He seems kind of sketchy to Tyler. What kind of professor hangs out at frat parties? For some reason Caroline hadn't found that weird and maybe it wasn't compared to all the other things they were dealing with. But then again Caroline also doesn't find Klaus all that repellent so maybe creepy just kind of slides off her. And she liked Tyler, so that seems to cement that theory.

Tyler feels stupid seeking out Shane's office but it's all he can do. And now that he's here he's glad he came. Talking to Bonnie over the phone doesn't seem like a good idea, not for the kind of conversation he's looking to have. When he finds it, he hears voices from inside. Bonnie's is easily recognizable. The other must be Shane's.

Bonnie laughs and it's a strange sound. He doesn't think he's heard Bonnie laugh before, in their limited time together. Tyler thinks about the last laugh he heard and knows it belonged to Hayley and then he's angry all over again. The anger is easier to manage now that he's a hybrid but sometimes he wishes he could be a wolf again. Just a wolf. Then he can blame it on that. Then he can blame all of this on that. As a hybrid, it's nothing but him and the rage he isn't trying to control.

Tyler waits outside that office for at least an hour before the door opens. Bonnie comes out with a kind of smile on her face and her curls pulled back into a ponytail. "Bonnie," he says, when she doesn't notice him.

"Tyler?"

"Hi."

"Hi? What are you doing here?"

"I have to talk to you."

* * *

Bonnie has learned that people wanting to talk to her, needing her for any reason, usually constitutes something magical on her part. She wishes she'd taken Shane up on his offer to stick around for some more hypnosis and exotic tea. Now it's too late so she lets Tyler walk with her.

"I don't know if you heard," he begins. She tries to file through her head for something that anyone's told her about Tyler recently. She comes up blank. Caroline called a couple of times (Caroline is usually calling about something Tyler related) but Bonnie was busy and still hasn't gotten around to calling back. "My friend Hayley died."

Everyone's dead. Everyone dies. Welcome to Mystic Falls, the last place you'll ever see.

Bonnie remembers Caroline going off on some jealous rant about Hayley, certain that something was going on with her and Tyler. Bonnie remembers trying to remind Caroline that Tyler has been far more understanding regarding her whatever thingy with Klaus.

"I'm sorry," she said. "What happened?"

"Damon," Tyler says bitterly. She wants to smile because both she and Tyler seem to have mastered the art of making Damon's name into a curse word. It's short, hard and wrapped in venom. "I guess you didn't hear," he adds.

"Witches who lose their powers get left out of important conversations," she says.

"What?"

"Damon," she says. "Come over here." She leads him to a bench along the pathway, where sorority girls march up and down with their monogrammed bags and their perfect hair, chattering away on their cell phones about nothing in particular.

"I am sorry about your friend," she says, "but I don't get why you're talking to me about it. Caroline-"

"I'm _not_ talking to Caroline." He doesn't look at her but down at the ground.

Bonnie thinks she's supposed to remember something about this, too. A fight they had a few weeks ago? About the hybrid Jeremy killed? Bonnie can't remember specifics.

"So you're talking to me?"

"I need your help."

"With?"

Tyler suddenly looks like he doesn't want to continue. "Maybe I made a mistake coming here."

"Well now you have to tell me," she says. "What do you need my help with?"

"I want to kill Damon and Stefan Salvatore."

Bonnie wants to laugh because it's so obvious. Of course he wants to kill them. Even to her it has been an obvious albeit impossible course of action. Killing them is basic and predictable and understandable but not possible. Because Elena doesn't want that. Because Caroline has some kind of friendship going with Stefan. Because Elena. Because Caroline.

"I know what you're thinking," Tyler says and maybe he does. If he's considered this at all, then he's probably already reached the same roadblock that Bonnie has reached so many times.

"Oh?"

Tyler tells her exactly what she was thinking.

"And you still want to?"

"Yes." He doesn't even look apologetic about it. For some reason (Bonnie knows the reason), she likes that. "The way I see it, lots of people we cared about have died. My uncle. Hayley. Your Grams. Your mom. They didn't think about us."

"Elena and Caroline didn't exactly sanction those killings."

"They didn't argue much against them either," Tyler growls. "Besides, I'm not suggesting we kill Elena and Caroline. I just want the Salvatores."

"Oh is that all?"

Bonnie has a list.

"And Klaus, if possible."

Maybe Tyler has a list, too.

"My magic is being…difficult," she says, wondering why she's humoring this instead of refusing outright (she knows why).

"Caroline says you can't do dark magic," Tyler says. "Does killing a few vampires count as dark?"

The spirits would probably _love_ that. Bonnie, finally back on track, doing what they want. What she's supposed to do. Nature's weapon. Nature's sword. Back on the frontlines, fighting for the right side.

"I'll have to see," she tells him. "I have to think about it. All of it."

"You can't tell them."

"Oh, really? I'm glad you told me or else who knows what I might have done."

Tyler smiles as much as his grief will allow him to. "You have my number," he said. "Call me when you decide. Or you can just stop by the manor. Or something. I'm around."

Bonnie watches him go. She sits on the bench for awhile longer, turning it over in her mind. _Kill Damon. Kill Stefan. Kill Damon. Kill Stefan. Maybe Klaus if time and ability permits. But definitely kill Damon. And kill Stefan. Devastate Elena. And Caroline. Save lives? Save my life? Save Tyler's? _

Lately, since she's started meeting with Shane, Bonnie thinks about her mortality. He's mentioned some spells that witches use to live longer and live younger. And Bonnie thinks she could do them at some point, if she gets there, but those won't protect her from an angry vampire or a rampaging hybrid. Very few things will. She can feel herself becoming less useful to them, to Elena. Damon makes sure she doesn't forget that.

_Kill Damon_.

Damon kills those who are not useful. Maybe he'd draw the line because of Elena, especially now that he's got a shot with her and Stefan being split up. But she remembers how he snapped Jeremy's neck and doesn't think Damon really knows where the lines go. And Stefan may have known at one point but every day the lines grow fainter and fainter with him. She could be next on the list of people that Damon and Stefan have killed.

Abby was on that list, too. Under other circumstances, Bonnie might have been on it instead.

_Kill Damon. Kill Stefan. Kill them before they kill me. Kill them because they're killers. Kill them because I want to? Because it's right? Kill them_.

And she suspects that even if she doesn't help Tyler, he'll do it on his own. And he'll inevitably die. Welcome to Mystic Falls, where you will die if you go up against the bad guys who say that they are good guys but are lying.

Bonnie had nature on her side. All of nature. The spirits would have to be happy with a few less vampires, especially if they were Stefan and Damon. She would tip the scales in Tyler's favor. Which would also become _her_ favor. She would lose Elena. She would probably lose Caroline. Tyler definitely would, if he even wanted to be with her anymore.

But hey, Damon and Stefan would be dead.

Bonnie pulls out her cell phone and dials Elena. When she's not busy trying not to kill people, Elena is usually…Bonnie isn't sure what Elena does anymore. Caroline mentioned something about Stefan mentioning something about Elena journaling again.

"Bonnie," Elena says, in that breathless way she says things. Bonnie is beginning to be annoyed by that. "Hi."

"Are you busy?" Bonnie asks. "I need to talk to you."

Elena tells her to come over. It's just her and Damon.

Bonnie wonders if Elena can hear her rolling her eyes.

"I want to talk to you without him eavesdropping," she says. "Meet me at my house."


	2. Partners

**Summary**: After Damon kills Hayley, Tyler is looking to enact some vengeance on the Salvatore brothers, a task that can't be undertaken alone. Enter Bonnie, looking to prove just how useless she isn't.

**Disclaimer: **I own nothing.

**A/N: **Thanks for all the wonderful reviews! Much appreciated. I'm on Thanksgiving break and I have no life so I'm updating twice in one day. I hope you enjoy.

* * *

Partners

Tyler doesn't go home right away. Well, he does but then he spots Caroline's car in the driveway and he turns right back around and drives toward the woods. He leaves his car to go down into the old cellar where he used to change on a full moon and he sits there in the dark. He listens to the animals outside, creeping over leaves and crawling over the rough bark of the trees. There's no one around. No speaking.

It's what he needs.

Caroline has left messages but he doesn't listen to them. She sends him texts but he doesn't read them. She can go talk to Klaus if she's lonely. A piece of his brain reminds him that it's not fair to be mad at Caroline for Klaus being obsessed with her (Tyler finds that weird too since Caroline looks a bit like Rebekah in his opinion and he doesn't want to think about the implications of _that_). But he can blame Caroline for going on "dates" with Klaus. And he can blame Caroline for not doing a thing to help Hayley or to help him.

When Tyler thought Klaus was the enemy, he also knew what his side was and who was on it. Caroline was obvious. He loves (loved?) Caroline. She loved (loves?) him. There is no side that Tyler is on that Caroline isn't on as well. The same with him. Elena. Stefan and Damon. Jeremy. Bonnie. Matt. Good versus evil. Us versus them. He knew where he stood and now he's not sure anymore. He knows it's him drawing lines now. If Bonnie agrees, it'll be them versus everyone else.

Caroline called Elena his friend once and Tyler didn't correct her. He hasn't forgotten how Elena instantly forgave him for telling Brady where to find her, the doppelganger, and trying to capture her for the sacrifice. He is grateful for that. But how far is gratitude supposed to go? At this rate, it'll take him and everyone else he loves (or likes or even meets once or twice) straight to the grave. Gratitude won't get him anywhere.

Tyler considers going back home. Caroline may still be there. If Caroline is anything, it is persistent. They could talk. He knows they should talk. Even if it's not a good conversation, it's a conversation. They _should_ talk. He remembers when he felt like he could tell Caroline anything. That was a good feeling and he wants it back but now that seems impossible. The things he wants to tell Caroline are not things she wants to hear.

That's Caroline. She's friends with everyone. Or she was. Maybe that doesn't apply anymore. She's friends with Elena and Stefan. Not Damon but who really _is_ friends with Damon? She's friends with Bonnie. Caroline _really_ loves Bonnie and from what he's heard the feeling is mutual. Tyler begins to feel like shit for bringing Bonnie into this now.

Plus, Bonnie has extra incentive not to help. She's actually friends with Elena. She loves Caroline. Tyler loves Caroline, too. But out of all of them, she is the only one he loves. He and Matt haven't spoken in months, not really. And Tyler can't hide how annoyed he is that Matt dropped both him and Caroline after finding out what they were but ran to hop onboard the Elena express when she had to take up a supernatural lifestyle. If he loses Caroline, it's just one person. And Tyler can make new friends. He can find a new girlfriend perhaps. No one will be what Caroline was but hopefully no one else will be okay with killing innocent people either.

He can start over. He's proven that much but he doesn't know if Bonnie can.

Out of the two of them, Bonnie might have the most to lose. And if Bonnie decides not to help him, she may decide to go against him. He'll lose for sure with Bonnie against him. She may tell the others.

Tyler thinks he should have tried harder to go this path alone.

* * *

Elena may not have ever looked like she _belonged _in Bonnie's house. They spent all their time at Elena's when they were younger. Anyone that wasn't Bonnie or her dad looked weird in Bonnie's house. But Elena never looked like she shouldn't be there at all either. Now she looks that way. Somehow this Elena doesn't mesh with old Elena doesn't mesh with Pre-Salvatore Elena. Elena does not fit the allowed-in-Bonnie's-house Elena. Bonnie feels guilty for hesitating to invite her in even though it had seemed a given a few weeks ago, when she determined that she would definitely invite Elena in if she ever came over. Now she was rethinking everything.

Welcome to Mystic Falls, where letting friends into your house becomes a huge fucking deal.

"What did you want to talk about?" Elena asked. She's strange as a vampire. Her eyes are always red from crying now and since their trip to Whitmore, Bonnie has trouble forgetting the vision of Elena with her bloody mouth. She sits on Bonnie's sofa and folds her legs beneath her. She almost looks normal. Bonnie focuses on that.

"Tyler's friend, Hayley," Bonnie answers. "She's dead, isn't she?"

Elena lowers her gaze.

"Why?" Bonnie asks. "What did she do?"

"I meant to call you," Elena says.

Bonnie tells her to forget about it and keep talking.

"Another hunter showed up last week," Elena explains. "And he went for the hybrids at the Lockwood place. Hayley was there and she was trying to protect them or something and she made a deal with the hunter."

"What was the deal?"

"She told him where to find more vampires," Elena says. "In exchange he'd leave the hybrids alone. He came _to my house_. Jeremy was there. He could have been hurt."

Bonnie isn't sure when she started having to fight the urge to roll her eyes at Elena talking about Jeremy like he's ten. Maybe it was around the time Bonnie saw how not-ten-years-old Jeremy was. Or maybe it was around the time Jeremy cheated on her with a ghost. Hard to say for sure.

"Looking for you?" Bonnie asks.

"Looking for Damon and Stefan. And you know Damon, he got mad."

Of course he did.

"And he killed Hayley?"

"I tried to stop him. I told him not to. Caroline and Tyler have been fighting about this for weeks, you know? I didn't want Damon to make it worse. But…it happened anyway."

"Where's the hunter now?"

"Jeremy and Matt killed him," Elena says. "They're human so we avoid the hallucinations that way."

"When was this? Why didn't anyone tell me?"

"You were at Whitmore," Elena explains. "I thought you wanted some space. I didn't want to mess you up because I know you're working on your magic. And we didn't need you so we didn't bother you."

We didn't need you so we didn't call you. We didn't tell you that we killed Tyler's friend because we didn't need you. We'll call when we need you. When your magic returns. When you're useful again.

Elena's been spending too much time with Damon.

* * *

When Bonnie asks Tyler where he is, he tells her. She comes to the cellar and within minutes they are making plans. She is sitting next to him on the ground and they are discussing how best to do it. Tyler is equal parts shocked and relieved that she came.

It was decided without verbalizing it, that they would do this as secretly as possible. They both know why. Despite the fact they believe in what they're going to do, the world, the town, will be a better place without the Salvatore brothers, they don't want to lose Elena and Caroline in the process. Maybe Tyler doesn't care so much about losing Elena. But Bonnie does. And Tyler caring about Caroline has been his life recently because that's all Caroline's life was.

Killing Stefan and Damon at the same time is an option for about a minute before they determine that's a bad idea. Bonnie is a strong witch, she knows that much, at least when her powers are reliable. But she doesn't want to hinge all their plans on her magic just yet. Tyler can condemn them both with a bite but Damon and Stefan have a habit of getting around that. Klaus and his selective compassion.

Klaus. He may be a problem, too.

Stefan may be the easiest. He trusts them both for the most part. Bonnie almost feels bad about discussing the best ways to stake Stefan. He _did_ come see her at her house when no one else did. But then again, he only came to ask her magic related questions and then got roped into being a decent human being/vampire because she was obviously depressed. Bonnie doesn't feel so bad anymore.

Tyler is animated and excited. He had always been a talker, though Bonnie remembers that he never used to say anything of substance. This and that about girls and sex and drinking and general assholery. But that was back when they were all normal. His eyes are lit up. He really wants to kill them.

It's infectious.

Bonnie starts smiling, too.

Damon will be complicated. He's arrogant and temperamental which will lead to mistakes but he is also the stronger brother. And he is the one that won't hold back. Stefan may want an explanation, may think that they are being possessed or controlled or just not themselves. Stefan might want to talk first. Damon will not care.

"If we kill Stefan first," Bonnie says, "Damon will lose it."

"That'll happen either way. We just have to be sure we cover our tracks. Send him in a different direction. You know he'll want to find who do it. As long as we set him on a path, we can surprise him."

For all their bitching and moaning, Damon and Stefan love each other. If one of them dies, the other one will collapse. There will probably be collateral damage. If they were to kill Damon first, Stefan would go all Ripper and take his show on the road. His brand of damage would be hard to contain, to control, to prevent. Damon would remain local. Between Tyler and Bonnie, they'd be able to keep him under control. Elena and Caroline would come in handy there. Elena's crying might actually do some good. Sometimes Bonnie thinks Damon really does care what Elena wants and then she remembers Damon snapping Jeremy's neck and she decides Damon only cares what Damon wants.

"Klaus could be an issue," she says.

"How so?"

Bonnie reminds him of Klaus' weird crush on Stefan. They can't be certain but Klaus may look to help Damon hunt down whoever killed Stefan. And Klaus is annoying on a good day and a monster on a bad one, so Bonnie can say with certainty that he will prove difficult if he chooses to involve himself. They can take down Klaus. Bonnie's done it before but Klaus plus a grieving Salvatore is not the way to go.

Tyler shook his head. "It still has to be Stefan."

"But what do we do if Klaus gets involved?"

Tyler looked thoughtful.

They end up rethinking the whole thing. They won't let anyone know Stefan has been killed. They can hide his body somewhere. Burn it when they get the chance. Damon and Elena will search for him. If Klaus wants to help, he will. While they're looking, they'll undoubtedly come to Bonnie for help. If Tyler was on better terms with Caroline, she'd probably ask for his help with the search but that's unlikely now. But Bonnie they will ask for sure. She could be _useful._ She will pretend to help and send them somewhere useless. Getting Damon alone won't be hard. Even though he whines about Bonnie being unhelpful, he tends to call her a lot to join him on things like this. She'll have an opportunity then.

Tyler is still smiling. "I'm glad you came."

"I'm glad we're doing this."

She feels braver knowing that she's not alone. Before, it would have been Bonnie against them all. Now she has a partner. She tells him so.

"Even Caroline," she says, "doesn't see a problem with them. Stefan I can understand. He helped her when she was turned but Damon...Did she tell you about him?"

Tyler looks up at her. When she mentions Caroline, she sees him swallow. Hard. She knows he loves Caroline. It's hard not to love Caroline. Even though he's angry with her, he loves her. Bonnie knows all about that. "Yeah," he says. "Caroline knows how to forgive, I guess. Better than we do anyway."

Bonnie doesn't see a point in forgiving Stefan or Damon. Isn't forgiveness supposed to mean that someone feels bad for what they did? Stefan and Damon have never shown remorse. Stefan pretends to, in that Stefan way he has, but then he'll do the same thing later and let Damon get away with literal murder.

"She didn't always," Bonnie says. She knows it's not a bad thing, to be like Caroline, to be sweet and warm and forgiving like that but Bonnie still remembers the well meaning, overachieving Caroline who was insecure and jealous and held grudges for years. She remembers fighting with that Caroline and not talking for days then making up over burgers at the Grill after a grueling cheer practice. She liked that Caroline just as much as she likes this one but sometimes she wants that one back. She considers that her and Tyler have had vastly different histories with Caroline. She knew Caroline before she was a vampire and Tyler only knows the Caroline that came after. She wonders which is the real Caroline, the one that counts.

"She's a good vampire," Bonnie says, more to herself than to Tyler. "She reminds me that Stefan and Damon can help what they are. There's no such thing as vampire nature. They choose what they do." They chose to turn Abby. And they chose to kill Hayley and the other hybrid, Chris. All the people they've killed. They chose it.

Damon likes to use that one. They're vampires. This is what they do. They kill and they feed and they don't care. Caroline cares. Elena cares _a lot_, in her way.

They are not the way they are because of vampires. Bonnie doesn't hate vampires. Tyler is half vampire. Caroline and Elena are vampires and Bonnie loves them more than anything.

"And we're choosing this," Tyler says.

They can both live with that choice. Stefan and Damon have been living for centuries with theirs.

"So Stefan's first," Bonnie says. There's still a lot to be done, details to figure out. So many details. But it seems like a big deal, choosing which Salvatore will see hell first.

Tyler agrees. "Stefan's first."

Welcome to Mystic Falls, where you can kill things that are already dead.

* * *

**A/N: **The next chapter is in the process of being finished. I can tell you definitively that Caroline and Tyler will finally be speaking. It's going to be a slow journey to Bonnie and Tyler acting on their plans (and delving into a romance) and there are going to be some bumps along the way. But anyway, thank you for reading :)

_**nAAAAa**__**AAdfgdtrt**_


	3. Caroline Clings

**A/N: **Like I said, my non-internet life is not a thing that is happening. And I hate Thanksgiving so I may very well be updating again tomorrow. I'll enjoy this steady stream of accomplishing something because once school starts again, it'll stop.

* * *

Caroline Clings

Since his breakup with Elena and Caroline's yet to be official breakup with Tyler, Stefan has been spending a lot of time with her. Where Caroline goes, Stefan isn't far behind. Tyler knows about this and even if he wanted to talk to Caroline, he wouldn't approach her with Stefan. Bonnie reminds him that it's actually a pretty good idea if they want to split them up in the near future. Stefan will talk to Bonnie while Caroline is with Tyler. It's more than perfect actually.

But Tyler can't do it yet.

Bonnie doesn't mind much. Not yet anyway. It gives her an opportunity to figure Stefan out. And neither of them is in a hurry. It has to be perfect for their sakes. And perfection takes time. She drops in on Stefan and Caroline. Stefan minds it, she can tell. But he pretends he doesn't because Caroline likes it when Bonnie is there. No matter what happens, Caroline always likes it when Bonnie is there. It reminds her just how important it is for her and Tyler to remain discreet. Sometimes Bonnie thinks she can live without Elena, who so easily lives without her. But Caroline still clings to Bonnie and for that, Bonnie is grateful.

"I'm not gonna talk about Tyler anymore," Caroline says as she chews on her straw. "I'm gonna wait for him to come to me. If he wants to talk, he can come to me."

Neither Bonnie nor Stefan reminds her that she's said this before. Two times in fact.

They still don't say anything when Caroline asks Bonnie if she's talked to Tyler recently. Bonnie lies and says she hasn't though she isn't sure why she does that. Granted her and Tyler have never been close but it's not _that_ weird if Bonnie talks to him. But she thinks it's better to feign disinterest when it comes to Tyler, just in case. She's beginning to feel like they're in a spy movie or something.

Bonnie wonders if Caroline and Stefan have talked about Hayley and Tyler. She wonders what Stefan's response has been. Does he defend Damon? Does he justify it because they had to "protect their friends?" Why is it that no one else's friends are protected? Why wasn't Tyler's friend protected? Why wasn't Abby?

Abby is complicated. Bonnie doesn't think of her as her mother, not really. But she thinks of her as someone that is part of her. Sometimes Bonnie can't determine if it's because of genetics or if it's because of magic. She tells herself it's the magic that makes her feel connected to Abby instead of something more. She has stopped expecting an apology for what happened.

Welcome to Mystic Falls, where there's no apology necessary when it's for Elena.

* * *

Tyler runs into Bonnie later. It's weird to see her out and about after what they decided. He wonders if he should stop and talk to her but then he thinks that may be weird. They still aren't friends. They're just helping each other. And in the distance Tyler sees Caroline's blond curls. She's walking down the street alongside someone who is definitely Stefan Salvatore. His blood runs hot.

Bonnie bends her steps toward him. He doesn't know what he expects her to say but "You should talk to Caroline" isn't anywhere near the potential phrases.

"Didn't we just talk about how I don't want to speak to Caroline right now? Remember how you said that was okay?"

"Yes but I think you should anyway. She wants to talk to you."

Tyler isn't sure how his teaming up with Bonnie means that she gets to tell him what to do now.

"Tyler," Bonnie says. "Just call her. If you're mad at her then tell her that."

"Would you like me to tell her how we're going to kill her new best friend, too?"

Bonnie makes a face. She isn't amused. "_Call Caroline_. She misses you."

And that's it because Bonnie is walking away.

Tyler sits on a bench in the square and calls Caroline.

* * *

Bonnie goes back to Whitmore that afternoon. She considers asking Shane some questions about the best ways to go about killing vampires but she already knows the answer to that: a well crafted stake. And adding details makes her nervous. Instead they practice her magic some more. They've moved beyond lighting candles, though Bonnie sometimes lights them all just because she can. And she likes the way Shane looks at her once she's done it: like she's something he's never seen before and doesn't want to look away from. No one has found her magic that awe inspiring since Jeremy, not even the people that benefit from it the most.

Shane says he wants to get her back into the habit of doing small things. He says it's like a muscle, her magic. The more she works it, the stronger it'll get. She hasn't had a nosebleed yet and Shane assures her that if they stick on the path he has planned for her, she won't ever have one.

As Bonnie levitates the burning candles, she imagines doing the same with a stake and driving it into Stefan's heart.

It's a nice image.

"I know you have class tomorrow," Shane says as Bonnie starts gathering her things, "so we're not going to be seeing each other. But just work on it. You're good."

_You're good. _

Good enough to kill the Salvatores.

Welcome to Mystic Falls, where it seems that's all you have to be to survive.

* * *

Tyler doesn't know where Caroline's been all day and he doesn't ask. He doesn't ask why she's hanging out with Stefan. She sits down next to him and they sit there for awhile, looking at the grass and not talking. Finally, Caroline speaks.

"So. Where've you been?"

"I've been here," Tyler answers.

"You haven't returned my calls."

"Sorry."

"If you weren't going to talk to me, why did you ask me to meet you here?" Caroline demands. _Because I've been avoiding you and Bonnie told me I should. _He's seen Caroline's angry face plenty of times and she's seen his. Usually he wants it to go away because Caroline angry with him means he's done something horrible. But now he doesn't care like that. He should be angrier than her. He _is_.

"I do want to talk," he sighs. _I just don't know what to say_. Caroline knows what he thinks. She knows why he's angry. He doesn't know what else to tell her other than his emotions are still there.

"Well, let's talk. I'm _so_ sorry about what happened to Hayley. I didn't want that. I know she was important to you but-"

"No buts," Tyler says. "There are no buts, Caroline."

"I know," she says quickly. "I mean that….I mean-"

"Don't say it."

"Say what?"

"Say that thing about protecting our friends. I can't listen to it again."

"I was going to say that I understand. I wish I could have stopped it. I tried and so did Elena."

"Don't talk to me about Elena either."

Elena isn't his friend. He knows Caroline loves her and that means Tyler must also love her. That's what you're supposed to do. You're supposed to love the people that your loved ones love. He's been doing it. But he's the only one. And maybe he should hold his tongue when it comes to Elena, with Caroline and with Bonnie. With everyone it seems. Matt's probably in love with her. He never really stopped. She's Jeremy's sister. Damon and Stefan are as obsessed as you can be with another human being.

Elena is untouchable.

Tyler thinks he may be starting to hate her.

"Then let's talk about us," Caroline says. "Are we still…us?"

"I don't know. I don't think I've changed. Not that much."

"But you think I have."

_Because you have_. He doesn't think Caroline gets it. She doesn't understand how jarring it was to hear her say Chris wasn't important, not as important as Elena. He doesn't think she sees what the problem was. What the problem still is.

"I get it," Caroline says. "You think I don't but I do. I'm on your side, Tyler. I promise you I am."

When Hayley died, when Tyler found her body heartless and cold, Caroline touched him and he felt sick. Caroline has always been able to sympathize. She held him when he changed for the first time, wanted to feel his pain for him. But now he doesn't know if she still does. That day he questioned whether or not Caroline felt anything at all.

"Do you want to break up?" she asks.

_No_. _I love you_.

"No."

"Then what do you want?"

Stefan and Damon as piles of ash. _But you can't help me get that. _

"When you say you're on my side, what do you mean?"

"I mean that I'm not going to let anybody hurt you," Caroline says. "Or anyone you care about."

"They're your friends."

She knows who he's talking about.

"Damon is _not_ my friend. Stefan is...Stefan. He's saved my life before" _And taken plenty of others, _Tyler thinks. "But you're my boyfriend. I love you."

Tyler knows it shouldn't be enough. And it isn't enough to change his mind. He'll still meet with Bonnie later, they'll still conspire to kill both Salvatores, and he'll still hide that from Caroline. But he loves her and she says she's on his side. He wants to believe her and Caroline has a way of wrapping around his heart and squeezing. Caroline clings but in a way that makes him cling back. So he kisses her.

* * *

After Bonnie reunited with Caroline and Stefan, Caroline left because Tyler called (_Good job, Tyler) _and Bonnie was left alone with the younger Salvatore. She remembers when she preferred him to Damon. She still does really. If she had to pick, she'd pick Stefan though the distinction is becoming harder and harder to make. Damon is loud and obnoxious but he's never lied about what he is. Damon knows he's a monster. Stefan likes to say he isn't.

"How are you doing?" Stefan asks. The sun is shining. Bonnie imagines it burning Stefan.

"I'm good. How are you?"

At least Stefan handles these breakups better than his brother. They don't have to worry about Stefan going on a rampage and draining all the girls from school. Bonnie worries about that anyway but not because he broke up with Elena.

"I'm okay. Have you talked to her? Elena?"

It's a dumb question because even though Stefan and Elena are broken up, they still talk. The rate of conversation between them is probably around the same for Bonnie and Elena. But she says she has anyway. Because she did. Yesterday. She makes a mental note to text Elena later.

"She told me about Hayley."

Stefan pauses for a moment and gets that look on his face that says he's feigning guilt. Maybe it's real guilt. But Bonnie assumes it's fake because they'll be telling the same story in a week or two. That is if Stefan's still alive then. She thinks she and Tyler should talk about a timeline. Perfection takes time but they could put this off forever if they kept waiting for that.

"Caroline told me that Tyler is taking it hard," Stefan says.

"How else is he supposed to take it?"

Bonnie knows she didn't react much when Abby was turned. She knows she barely reacts to them anymore. There was a time when she would have set Damon on fire, ripped his brain apart. She would have done the same to Stefan. Somewhere along the way, that girl disappeared. But Bonnie feels her coming back. With a vengeance.

"I talked to Damon."

"Everyone talks to Damon. Never seems to do much."

"Elena talked to him, too."

Bonnie shoots him a sidelong glance. She tries to think of a time when that has worked. She comes up blank.

"Are they official yet?" Bonnie asks.

"I could ask you the same question."

"Well, don't because I don't know the answer."

Welcome to Mystic Falls, where you don't know until you know.

Bonnie's cell starts buzzing. It's Caroline. _Fixed things w/Tyler. See you later. :) _

It buzzes again. The next text is from Tyler. _With Care. Meet me at cellar. Midnight._

Bonnie decides that if Caroline isn't going to come back, she doesn't want to spend anymore time with Stefan. She makes up an excuse. _Gotta go. Will be planning to kill you later_.

* * *

**A/N: **I used to ship Caroline and Tyler in S2 by the way. I really do like Caroline despite her massive fail last ep. The writing fails all my faves.


	4. Every Good Party Needs A Planner

**A/N: **Thank you for all the pleasant reviews :)

* * *

Every Good Party Needs A Planner

Bonnie is already in the cellar when Tyler arrives. Caroline is asleep back at the house and Tyler is almost positive she didn't wake up when he left. Even if she did, he's still positive she didn't follow him. They had sex and in a way, it felt the same as before. But in other ways, it didn't. He hopes Caroline doesn't expect that they're back to normal because they're not. He's not. He will never be that kind of normal again.

Tyler and Bonnie don't talk about Caroline. Instead he says, "I think I'll have a party."

Bonnie's green eyes meet his brown ones and she stares at him for awhile. "Because…?"

"It'll provide a distraction," he says. "And you know everyone will come."

"Yes," Bonnie agrees. "_Everyone_ will come. Including Elena and Caroline."

He doesn't tell her he doesn't care about Elena.

"It's a big house," he says instead.

"It's too risky."

"We can make it work. Caroline said you guys did something to trap Katherine at the masquerade ball." _The night I killed Sarah. _It's a depressing memory. He wouldn't have gotten into this situation at all if that night hadn't happened. "Can't we do that? Just with Stefan? You're strong enough to do that, right? I can do the actual staking. You just get me in a room with Stefan."

Bonnie is thinking. She taps her fingers on the ground and stays quiet.

"It was a spell to trap Katherine inside a room," she says. "To trap a vampire. I think we can assume you'll be trapped inside, too."

"That's fine. You can let me out when it's done."

"We'll need to take precautions," she says. "There's a spell that will silence the room."

They don't need any other vampires hearing what's going on. Tyler can already picture Caroline coming to see what all the fuss is about and finding Tyler just as he pierces Stefan's heart with a stake. She'll probably want to break up then.

"We'll have to think of a way to get Stefan to you," Bonnie says. She starts mumbling to herself and Tyler can hear her clearly but he can't make it out. He asks her what she's talking about.

"I think I can do a glamour."

"A glamour?" He only understood the bare bones of what Bonnie was telling him when she put Klaus in his body and this is brand new information.

"Yeah, I can make him see whatever I want him to see."

"And what would you make him see?"

"Elena."

They stay there for hours, talking it out. Going around in circles, again and again and again until they both think they have it right. Bonnie needs more practice, to make sure she can do it. "I don't want any surprises," she says. Tyler is impatient but he agrees to give it another week though they both know that in a week, everything could have changed. In a week they could have another hunter to deal with or Matt could get turned into a vampire or someone could blow up something and then they'll have to rethink all their plans.

Bonnie is getting ready to leave when Tyler speaks again, "Do you think we could kill Klaus?"

Tyler remembers a feeling of relief when he learned that Klaus had been dessicated and was lying in a coffin, not speaking and not breathing. Then he remembers how Klaus being inside his body seemed like a good idea if it meant it would save them all, including him. Including Caroline. Now he just wants Klaus dead. Hayley wanted it to though she had an easier time accepting how impossible it was. Killing Klaus meant killing the hybrids, meant killing Tyler. Hayley decided right away it wasn't something they should try to pursue.

Bonnie shrugs. "We'd have to find a way around the whole bloodline thing. Besides, Klaus is pretty immortal."

"But you did manage to dessicate him."

"Yeah."

"But that's dark magic, right?" That he knows because Caroline told him about that once Tyler was back in his body and she tried to explain what happened with Bonnie and her magic and it didn't make sense. Some stuff about spirits and black magic and Bonnie's Grams.

"Yeah."

"So you can't do it?"

"No, I can do it," she says. Her tone is harsh but she seems to feel bad about that and speaks softly next. "The spirits just won't let me."

Tyler doesn't understand the difference.

"I'll figure something out," she says.

"Don't worry about it," Tyler says. "We'll cross that bridge. Later." There's no reason to push her, not when they've already got their hands full. Besides, she's helping him kill Damon and Stefan and that's enough for now.

* * *

"I should go back," Tyler says. It's close to 4 AM now.

"You should," Bonnie agrees. "We have school in a few hours."

Welcome to Mystic Falls, where school seems more make believe than all the vampires and werewolves and hybrids.

"Do you want me to walk you to your car?"

Chivalrous Tyler is not a Tyler Bonnie is familiar with. "No," she says. "I'll be okay. I'm a witch remember? If I you think I can't protect myself then you asked the wrong person for help."

They both smile.

* * *

Bonnie makes it to her car just fine but she doesn't go home. With her dad out of town again, her house empty. And it rarely feels like home. She's spent most of her time at Elena's or Caroline's or her Grams' over the years. It's late and going to see Elena would stir up questions not to mention Bonnie doesn't want to interrupt whatever it is Elena may be doing with Damon. Caroline isn't at home anyway. And her Grams' place feels just like the tomb she died trying to seal.

All that considered, Bonnie still isn't sure why she goes to Wickery Bridge. This is Elena's spot not hers. This is where Elena's story began but it seems like Bonnie's story is so entwined with Elena's these days that she can't separate them. Besides, the moon in its crescent glory lights up the bridge tonight. And it's not the bridge that interests Bonnie. It's the water below it. She goes down the slope toward the bank. When she's at the edge of the water, she starts taking off her clothes.

She's not an exhibitionist but she's sure there's no one around. She feels her surroundings with her magic, touching no one alive (or dead). It's perfect. She wades into the water in her underwear, ignoring the chill. She goes to the center of the water, where her magic keeps her afloat. To anyone who saw her, she would look like she is standing, like the water isn't so deep. But she can't feel the bottom with her toes and knows that it was deep enough to kill Elena's parents and Elena only weeks ago.

She's never done this before but she feels the need to try. Shane says it's nature she should worry about. The spirits are just spirits but Nature is the mother, the father and every other authority that should matter. She's not strong enough, not yet, to go around the spirits. They block her because they _are_ her.

_And you let them_, Shane says. _Don't let them_. _You're alive. You have your own power and you don't need theirs. You don't need permission. _

Nature is the mother. The father. Nature is what matters. Nothing - no one - else matters. Other witches have done it. Greta Martin did it. She didn't let the spirits choke her magic and her power and limit it the way Bonnie has. Greta is dead but it's not the magic that killed her. Bonnie closes her eyes.

"I will kill Stefan," she says to the water, to the sky, to the stars, to the earth, to Nature. "I will kill Damon. I will kill Klaus. And anyone else that needs to die. I will save myself and my friends. I don't have to be afraid. I will kill Stefan..." She repeats this for hours. Until she begins to feel warmth on her skin from the rising sun. She opens her eyes and swims to the bank.

_You'll learn to put yourself into trances, too_, Shane said. _  
_

Bonnie only returns home to shower and change clothes. She gets to school late but at least she showed. She has History with Caroline and Jeremy. Jeremy, who is somehow taking AP History though Bonnie doesn't know he finds the time to study. Caroline's mood has improved exponentially now that she's back on steady ground with Tyler. Jeremy manages to look unaffected by everything though Bonnie still remembers his emo phase and his druggie phase and marvels at how he's not regressing. Maybe it's the hunter thing. Maybe this is Jeremy's hunter phase. Except this one will be permanent. _  
_

"I'm so glad me and Tyler talked," Caroline says afterward as they walk down the hall together, sidestepping all their normal classmates. "I think we're okay now."

Bonnie can tell Caroline isn't totally certain of that. "But?"

"He left last night after we...you know."

Bonnie doesn't react. "Where'd he go?"

"I don't know."

"Did you ask him?"

"No. I just pretended I was asleep when he got back. He was gone for _hours_."

Bonnie makes a mental note to tell Tyler they should keep their meetings short, at least when he's got Caroline over. Then that reminds her of the other mental note she made to text Elena yesterday.

"Have you talked to Elena?"

"No," Caroline answers. "I think she's avoiding me."

"Why?"

"Because of Stefan."

Because Caroline likes Stefan and hates Damon. And Bonnie suspects it may have something to with Caroline taking the vampire thing better than Elena ever could. For so long Elena was better at Caroline at everything. Well, maybe not better but people liked things more when Elena did them. They liked it better when Elena told them things Caroline wanted them to know, liked it better when Elena wore clothes Caroline wore, liked Elena better than they liked Caroline. And now, for the first time, Caroline is better than Elena at being a vampire. But still, everyone likes Elena better because of it.

Bonnie _never_ asks Caroline about Matt. Caroline may be more mature now but she's still Caroline. And Matt ditched her because she was a vampire, because vampires killed Vicki. But now that Elena's a vampire, he has to be her walking, talking, breathing blood bag. No, Bonnie does not - will not - ask about Matt. Ever.

"Where _is_ Stefan?"

"He's not coming back. I mean, he only enrolled for Elena."

Centuries old vampires being enrolled in high school is weird. Bonnie has always thought that.

"Do you think I should ask Tyler?" Caroline asks. She looks at Bonnie with her round eyes and tugs on the end of one of her curls. Sometimes Caroline seems so human. "Or should I let him have his space?"

Bonnie shrugs her shoulders. "It's probably Hayley."

"Yeah," Caroline agrees. "Did Elena tell you about that?"

"What?" Bonnie knows she's messed something up.

"I mean, I tried calling you to tell you but you never called me back and yesterday you just kinda knew. I was just wondering if Elena told you." Caroline doesn't look like she's going to make a big deal about it but it's startling for Bonnie who wants to keep this whole thing as separate from Caroline as possible. Caroline's not stupid and this all seems so obvious from Bonnie's end. All Caroline has to do is piece it all together and then it'll fall right into her lap and Bonnie and Tyler will be stopped before they even start. She tells herself that Caroline may think it's weird but it's going to take a lot more than that for her to leap to Bonnie and Tyler partnering up to kill Stefan and Damon.

"Did Elena tell you?" Caroline asks.

Bonnie almost says yes but then she remembers that she'd told Elena she already knew about Hayley. She bites the bullet.

"Tyler told me."

Caroline cocks her head to the side. "Tyler? You said you hadn't talked to him."

Well, fuck. She did say that.

"I know," Bonnie says quickly, "but he was talking to me the other day about it. About you."

"What did he say?" Caroline's voice goes up in pitch. It always does that when she's about to freak out.

"Nothing," Bonnie assures her. "Nothing bad. He was just asking about you. How you were doing and stuff and he told me what you were fighting about. I think he thought I knew already and he just...said it."

"Then why'd you say you hadn't talked to him?"

Welcome to Mystic Falls, good luck keeping your lies straight.

"Because I told him to call you because you missed him," Bonnie says. It's true. She's glad that part is true. "And I didn't want you to get mad because I was...you know, in your business or whatever. Sorry."

"Oh. Well, thanks I guess." Caroline's over it, just like that. She loves Bonnie too much to question it. God, that makes Bonnie's stomach hurt. "Oh, he said he's thinking of having a party soon," Caroline says. "Friday. Not this Friday but _next _Friday. Are you gonna go? Please go. I know you're all teacher's pet right now..." Bonnie rolls her eyes. "...but you should go because I'll be there and we haven't been to a party together in _forever_ and we can go shopping together and get ready together! I can do your makeup! Tyler will probably think it's weird but you can invite Shane if you want to. I mean, he did go to that frat party." _  
_

Bonnie laughs and agrees to all of it. Except for the Shane part. There will be enough people she knows there and she can't be distracted, not when she's got a Salvatore to kill.

* * *

**A/N: **Regarding Tyler's feelings on Elena, I've always thought Tyler is the only member of the group who really has no reason to care what happens to her at all aside from some polite childhood acquaintance feelings hence his growing disdain. Also, I plan on some Bonnie and Jeremy scenes down the line because he'll become important eventually.


	5. Action

Action

Tyler forgot he has to actually provide things for his party. He's so wrapped up in the other purpose for this event that he forgot he'll need alcohol, cups and music not to mention a way to get his mom out of the house. He's got two out of three down. Being Tyler Lockwood, the mayor's son in a tiny town, he can't buy alcohol in Mystic Falls. So he has to go to the next town over with his fake I.D. and wad of cash. It's the perfect opportunity to meet with Bonnie. He offered to drive her there himself but she insists that they take separate cars, just in case. Even though no one knows them there, Bonnie still grabs a bottle of water she pretends she's going to buy and acts surprised when she sees him.

They haven't spoken really, not since last week when Bonnie informed him that Caroline noticed him leaving the other night. Caroline has occupied most of his time. He knows she's worried that they're not where they're supposed to be but he assures her the best way he can. They're both trying and sometimes he sees the Caroline that he fell in love with. She doesn't mention Elena to him anymore and she never talks about either Salvatore even though she doesn't keep her friendship with Stefan a secret either. They talk a lot about helping the other hybrids and Tyler knows she means it. Eventually he'll ask Bonnie for help with at least breaking the sire bond. Klaus can go on living forever if he wants to but if he can free them than he wants to.

"How's your magic?" Tyler asks Bonne as he drops plastic cups into the cart.

"Good. How's your...hybrid thing?"

"Good. Can you do the spells we need."

"Yes." She sounds sure. If Bonnie's sure, Tyler's sure. "I have a stake, too. I took it from Alaric's old stash. I can bring it to your house beforehand. Decide which room you want to use?"

"Guest room number 3," Tyler says with a shrug. "I don't know. Come by and pick." He doesn't know if there's some special quality this room has to have.

"I'll come by tonight."

"I can't believe we're talking about this in aisle 3."

Bonnie looks up. "It's aisle 7 actually. Would you like to go to aisle 3?"

Tyler has known Bonnie for his whole life and he knows nothing about her. He knows she's a witch. He knows her mom is gone (and is now a vampire) and her dad might as well be (gone, not a vampire). Her Grams is dead. She's best friends with Elena and Caroline. Used to date Jeremy. He thinks she might have worked with Matt at the pool one summer but he can't be sure. But he can't remember hearing Bonnie make a joke or remember laughing at anything she's said. She's not that funny actually but he laughs anyway because that seems like the right thing to do.

Bonnie walks with him to the side of the store with all the beer and he grabs a pack. When he asks, Bonnie grabs one, too. "You're not providing much, are you?" shes says when he moves on without picking up anymore.

"What? If anyone's serious about drinking, they'll bring their own," he says. "But I'll put a couple aside for you if you want."

Bonnie looks like she couldn't care less either way but she thanks him.

"So what's with you and that professor guy?" Tyler asks.

"Why does everyone think there's something happening with me and Shane?"

Tyler shrugs. He thinks that because Caroline thinks that. Caroline is _sure_ of it. _Elena told me he's hot. Bonnie's hot, too. And hot people like each other so as far as I'm concerned they're totally doing stuff_. He tells Bonnie that.

Bonnie rolls her eyes but she's smiling. "It's nothing. He's just helping me with my magic."

"So you're not having sex with him on his desk every time you go there?"

Bonnie makes a face. She likes to blink at people and purse her lips when she's annoyed. But it's not genuine annoyance. It's the face she makes with Caroline sometimes, when she says something Bonnie finds ridiculous but endearing. "No."

"But...do you want to?"

"_No_."

Tyler doesn't believe her. "So if this _hot_ professor teacher guy wanted to hook up with you, you're telling me you wouldn't go there?"

"Yes."

"Why not?"

"I'm in _high school_."

"He goes to _frat parties_."

"You guys are never gonna let that go."

They start laughing. Tyler considers how normal they must look. Just two teenagers walking through a store, him pushing a cart around (loaded with liquor) and Bonnie next to him, just laughing. It feels like the most normal thing he's done in awhile. He thinks he and Bonnie should figure out some way to come up with their plans in a normal place instead of the dark hole that is the cellar.

"If you do end up getting busy with the Fratty Professor, be sure to tell Caroline," Tyler says. "She's dying for you to get some action."

"_What_?"

"Caroline. Wants. You. To. Get. Some. Action," he repeats. "She was telling me about it the other day."

"Why are you and Caroline talking about me getting _action?"_

"She's very concerned because you haven't had sex since Gilbert. She's not actually sure if you had sex with him." He remembers Caroline telling him to ask Jeremy and Tyler asking her why she can't just get that info from Bonnie herself. _Because he cheated on her with a dead girl, Tyler. I can't just _ask _her._ Tyler had decided he wasn't going to ask Jeremy but now he might.

"I think you two could come up with better conversation topics."

"I can hook you up with one of the guys from the football team."

Bonnie laughs. It's the same one he heard when he was at the Professor-she's-not-fooling-around-with's office. When Bonnie's laughing, Tyler can see why Caroline loves her so much. She's lighter that way. He wonders if he looks the same to her. "Thank you but I'm okay."

"So do you really not have the slightest bit of a thing for him?" Tyler wiggles his eyebrows.

"Stop that," Bonnie says. "And maybe just a little thing."

* * *

The Lockwood manor is the weirdest place to be. Bonnie has never liked it, the way it looks more like a museum than a house. Not to mention the fact that she's never really liked the Lockwoods. Tyler's okay but she remembers his dad and how much of a dick he was. Then she feels bad for thinking that in his house. Tyler shows her all the rooms and Bonnie picks the same one as last time, the one she'd spelled for Damon and Stefan to kill Katherine in. Granted, they ended up leaving Katherine alive (idiots) but things will go differently this time. This time their target isn't going to leave alive to be put into a tomb.

The hybrids are still there but Tyler took her in through the back and up the other set of stairs. Tyler's family is the type to have two staircases. "Is the back set for commoners?" she'd asked.

"As if we let peasants see the upstairs."

She thinks she's supposed to be mortified because Caroline and Tyler talk about Bonnie having (and not having) sex but she isn't. Caroline's always had a strange interest in Bonnie being with boys. She was like that with Jeremy and she'll be like that for eternity. Literally. Bonnie thinks it has something to do with completing the circle. Elena had Stefan. Caroline had Matt (sort of) and Tyler (sort of). Therefore Bonnie must have someone. But Tyler doesn't seem to care that he knows intimate details about Bonnie's sex life so Bonnie figures there's no reason for her to care either.

Afterward, they linger awkwardly in the hallway. "So we're good to go?" Bonnie says.

"We're good to go."

"It's really happening." They're so close. Incredibly close. Bonnie can feel herself, her magic, thrumming. She wants to put it to use. She imagines it's the same for Tyler who has always been easy to wind up and has never had much of an issue with releasing his aggression. After this long, just talking about it, Bonnie figures he's more ready to put their plans into action than she is.

"I hope so."

"And Stefan's definitely coming?"

Bonnie had been worried about that. Stefan has the tendency to avoid situations in which he may see Damon and Elena interacting in their new, whatever-their-relationship-status-is way.

"I told you Caroline says he is," Tyler says. "She wants him to get out of the house so..." She's making him come. Neither of them wants to acknowledge how Caroline is encouraging Stefan to go to his death. Sometimes Bonnie wishes they'd picked Damon first because Damon deserves the sting of the element of surprise more.

They don't move.

"Oh, wait," Bonnie says. "The stake." She pulls it from her bag and holds it out to him. When Tyler takes it, it feels real. They're actually going to do this. They're going to kill Stefan Salvatore. With that stake. Welcome to Mystic Falls, the home of one less Salvatore.

* * *

Elena decides she doesn't want to go to Tyler's party and Bonnie hides her elation. Elena mentions Stefan going and how they talked one day at the Grill and how awkward it was and how she doesn't think she can go with Damon and see Stefan there. For some reason she feels bad about being with Damon now, though she still won't admit that she's _with_ Damon. Bonnie thinks she should just be with Damon in all the ways girlfriends are with boyfriends if that's what she wants to do. Human Elena may have done that but Vampire Elena is too emotional and too guiltridden to manage it. Even though Bonnie is relieved she won't be there, a part of her wants to enlist Caroline in pulling Elena out of her funk. She tells Elena that if she's going to avoid every social event in town because she doesn't want Stefan to see her with Damon, then they should just quit now. Elena doesn't budge. _I'll go to the next one_, she promises. Bonnie knows she's lying. _  
_

Things have been quiet. No hunters. No hybrids. No Klaus.

It's strange that Klaus isn't there. He's never gone for long but now he leaves town for long periods of time and no one knows why. When he comes back, he's the same old Klaus. But him leaving is also helpful. One less person in Stefan's corner and Bonnie knows Tyler is glad he won't have to worry about Klaus "courting" Caroline. Bonnie thinks Elena may know what Klaus is doing on these trips he takes but she never talks about it and Bonnie's mind is too occupied with other things to ask.

Bonnie also thinks that Elena is asking Damon to make himself scarce when Bonnie and Caroline come over. Maybe it was because Bonnie refused to come over with Damon around that one time. And even though that wasn't the reason, Bonnie's glad she doesn't have to deal with him. Despite Caroline's suspicion that Elena is avoiding her, Bonnie brings her along when she stops by the Gilbert house and as suspected, Damon isn't there. Neither Caroline nor Bonnie has ever had a problem working with Damon if the situation called for it but they've never been on recreational fun terms with him either. Maybe Elena wasn't as aware of it before. Now that Caroline is showing her blatant preference for Stefan, maybe she thinks about it more.

The three of them sit in Elena's room and don't speak. Bonnie can't remember the last time they sat somewhere without any of them saying a word.

Finally Caroline speaks. She is sitting on Elena's windowsill with the sun shining on her hair. From where Bonnie sits on the floor, she looks angelic. "How's Jeremy doing?"

Elena is leaning against her headboard with her hands in her lap. She tugs on her fingers like she wants to pull them off. "Good," she answers. "He's just, you know, getting a handle on the hunter thing. How's Tyler?"

Bonnie almost says, "Good" before she remembers she's not supposed to know how Tyler is doing. Caroline says, "Better."

"How's it going with Shane, Bonnie?"

"I'm not having sex with him," Bonnie answers. It's only when Caroline and Elena remain completely silent that she realizes that wasn't what Elena meant. "I just...I assumed that's what you were going to ask about. That's what Caroline always wants to know about."

"No, I don't," Caroline insists. "But if that's what you're thinking about..."

"Isn't that illegal?" Elena asks.

"Isn't what illegal?"

Jeremy is standing in Elena's doorway. Bonnie will never get over how easily emo Jeremy and druggie Jeremy melted away to form _this_ Jeremy. Broad chested and tall with biceps almost as big as Bonnie's head. She remembers the other day at the school, when they told him to kill a vampire to help Elena. _Give me a stake, I'll kill Damon right now_.

If only.

Though Bonnie had told herself she would do her best not to find Jeremy Gilbert attractive ever again, she was painfully attracted to him that day. _  
_

"Having sex with college professors," Caroline says. "Do you know what the age of consent is in Virginia?"

Bonnie doesn't look at Jeremy. Caroline just wants to make Jeremy jealous for her sake. No, Bonnie doesn't need Elena's little brother because she's got a super hot, magically knowledgeable professor just waiting to write her a stellar letter of recommendation and do her on his desk. But Bonnie can't resist and she glances in Jeremy's direction. His eyes are narrowed and he's staring at Bonnie confusedly.

"I don't know it," he says finally, looking up at Caroline. "Try Google."

"We will, thank you," Caroline says.

Jeremy leaves and Bonnie closes the door with her mind. "So I guess the actual magic thing is going well, too," Elena comments.

Bonnie tells her it is.

"I'm sorry," Caroline says loudly. "Are we just going to pretend like we didn't notice what happened here?"

"What happened?" Elena asks.

"Jeremy was totally jealous just then! He still wants the Bon."

The ice is broken.

Welcome to Mystic Falls, where all it takes is making an ex-boyfriend jealous.

* * *

**A/N: **Next chapter is Tyler's party.


	6. Lather

Lather, Rinse, Repeat History

Part I

Bonnie gets to Tyler's early. Both because she wants to make sure she's ready to kill Stefan and because Caroline makes her. Like she agreed, Caroline did her makeup and they got dressed together. Even though Bonnie reminds Caroline that it's just a house party at Tyler's, Caroline is on some kind of glamour kick and makes Bonnie wear a dress because Caroline is also wearing a dress. Bonnie would have preferred jeans for this occasion but she can't exactly tell Caroline to let her wear pants because she's going to be killing Stefan Salvatore tonight and she doesn't want her ass to hang out in the process. So Bonnie ends up at Tyler's in a black sequined dress and a pair of Caroline's skyscraper heels.

Tyler set aside a couple cans of beer for Caroline. And for Bonnie, as promised.

"I told you I would," he says.

There has never been a Lockwood party Tyler is less interested in, except for perhaps the one that Klaus made him throw once. Bonnie notices him staring at the front door in between dancing with Caroline. He barely drinks anything though he carries around a beer. Bonnie is the same. When Stefan arrives, Bonnie feels electricity in her bones, cycling through her like liquid. Caroline was worried Stefan wouldn't show but he promised he would and Stefan values oaths sworn to Caroline. Caroline hands him the beer Bonnie isn't going to drink and pulls him with her onto the makeshift dance floor.

Bonnie and Tyler watch them go.

"Nice party," Bonnie says.

Tyler glances around the room.

"What?" Bonnie questions.

"I'm just looking for your professor."

"He's not _my_ professor."

"Is there nothing else to talk about in this town?"

Jeremy is everywhere these days.

"Gilbert, you made it." Tyler and Jeremy do that thing guys like to do, the thing with their hands and then a clap on the back. Bonnie sighs and looks away. Why does Jeremy insist on wearing shirts that show off how big his arms are?

"Yeah. Hey, Bonnie."

"Hey."

The three of them linger without speaking. Of all the times for Caroline to go and be Stefan's Lexi surrogate.

"Did you get something to drink, Gilbert?"

"I'm not drinking tonight."

"DD?"

"No. I just don't want to tonight."

Tyler looks at him like that's the dumbest thing he's ever heard. "Then why did you come?"

"There were some people I wanted to see."

Bonnie doesn't need to be a witch to know that Jeremy is talking about her and she _really_ doesn't have to be one to notice him looking at her as he says this. She wills Tyler to stay put. Jeremy has been mostly unconcerned with Bonnie since their breakup. She stopped his heart and brought him back and they said nothing about it. He held her when the spirits brutalized Grams and they said nothing about it. Why start talking about their short lived romance now? Thankfully, Tyler seems to get it and doesn't leave. They're in sync now.

Jeremy doesn't agree and tries to get Tyler to go.

"Shouldn't you find Caroline?"

"I know where she is."

"But shouldn't you go talk to her?"

"...No?"

Jeremy shoots him a dirty look that Bonnie pretends not to notice.

"Bonnie, can you find Caroline?" Tyler asks.

It's a good out. "Sure."

Jeremy doesn't follow. Caroline is an even tougher crowd and Bonnie reaches her within seconds. The blond tugs on Bonnie's hand and tells her to dance.

* * *

"Been reading _Cockblocking for Dummies_?" Jeremy is annoyed.

"That implies," Tyler says, "that without me in the way said cock would have been going somewhere. Do yourself a favor and don't go there with Bonnie. Not again."

"Since when do you have an opinion on me and Bonnie?"

"Since Caroline."

Caroline told him that Jeremy got testy when he heard them talking about Bonnie and the Fratty Professor. She also told him how she thinks Bonnie still likes Jeremy a little bit, even though she doesn't _want_ to like him and really doesn't want to admit she still does. But there's more now that Tyler can see Bonnie's face when she talks about the professor and the way she angles her body when Jeremy's around and how her heartbeat changes ever so slightly when it comes to either of them.

"What does Caroline say?"

Tyler doesn't answer. Caroline would kill him.

"Did you and Bonnie ever have sex?" he asks instead.

Jeremy makes a weird sound. "I'm sorry, did we reach that point in our friendship where we talk about the sex we have?"

Tyler raises his eyebrows. "So you did have sex?"

"Or don't have."

"So you didn't?"

"I'm not telling you!" Jeremy folds his arms across his chest like that's going to make the conversation stop. "Didn't _Caroline_ tell you?"

"Caroline doesn't know."

"Bonnie didn't tell her?"

"Is there something to tell?"

"I mean Caroline could just ask Bonnie if she's so interested."

"Caroline doesn't like to broach the subject much. Seeing as how you cheated on her best friend with a _ghost_."

Jeremy sighs. "I want a beer after all."

Tyler focuses his attention on Caroline, Bonnie and Stefan. They look like the only people taking the dancing part of this party seriously. Stefan is sandwiched between the two girls and Tyler isn't sure whether he's amused or infuriated by the sight. Stefan doesn't touch either one of them, not with his hands at least, though he's facing Caroline. But he's obviously hyper aware of Bonnie at his back and keeps rhythm with her hips. The image of Bonnie forcing a stake through Stefan's back makes Tyler smile.

Welcome to Mystic Falls, where the party has yet to begin.

* * *

Stefan slips away from Bonnie and Caroline, promising to return. The girls close the gap he leaves and dance with each other. Stefan's smiling and drinking and actually behaving like a normal person. Bonnie curses Jeremy for making her uncomfortable enough to join them over here because she's now looking at Stefan like a person and not one of the vampires that has cost her and Tyler so much.

"Jeremy's looking at you," Caroline whispers, sliding her arms around Bonnie's waist.

Bonnie isn't going to turn around. "Of course he is."

"If you'd just invited _Atticus_ like I told you to..."

"_I _don't even call him Atticus." She should have known not to tell Caroline Shane's first name.

"Of course you don't. His name is Atticus. Shane is _much _hotter."

"I don't know, Jeremy has bigger arms," Bonnie says, "and Shane's kinda slim."

Caroline throws back her head and laughs. "Bonnie, you _barely _had one beer. Get it together."

Bonnie realizes her mistake and blames it on her preoccupation with other things that will be happening tonight.

She doesn't know how much longer she and Caroline dance together. Songs come and go and they sing along to all of them. When Stefan comes back he reclaims his spot between them and that annoys Bonnie because Caroline is hers and he's just ruining it. She starts grinning when she thinks of him being dead soon.

* * *

Tyler doesn't know where Jeremy went. He's probably making googly eyes at Bonnie from a corner somewhere and reminiscing over the sex they had (or didn't have). It's impossible to think of anything _but_ killing Stefan. If he didn't know Bonnie was in on it, he'd think she knew nothing about it from the way she's gyrating with Caroline and the newly returned Stefan. As far as Tyler can tell, Bonnie's not thinking of anything but the way she fits with Stefan and Caroline and song lyrics.

People are still coming in. They'll keep coming in until Tyler locks the door. He sees April Young, the annoying girl from school. He doesn't know her and doesn't want to but sometimes he sees her with Jeremy and Matt. He's not surprised when Jeremy appears to talk to her and guides her into the kitchen. Matt is another story. He may be working but Tyler doesn't know. Once, he pretty much had Matt's work schedule memorized and now he has no idea. A bitter part of Tyler thinks _Elena's not here so Matt probably won't have that great of a time anyway._ He sends Matt a text asking if he's working tonight.

A flash of movement at the front door attracts his attention.

Elena.

It's Tyler's turn to sigh though it comes out more like a groan. He was expecting her to be there until Caroline told him otherwise and he's sure her decision to stay home relaxed him and Bonnie both (for very different reasons). But now she's here and Tyler wishes he hadn't gotten so comfortable with the notion of an Elenaless evening.

Bonnie won't be affected by it. Or at least he hopes she won't. She'd tweaked her glamour plans a little bit because Elena wasn't coming but it's easy enough to return to the original plan. Elena there or not, Stefan will be dead in a few hours.

* * *

Bonnie tears herself away from Caroline and Stefan, tired from all the dancing and also tired of seeing Stefan acting like a decent person. Tyler is standing along the wall. She wonders if he's moved.

"Having fun?" he asks.

"More than you apparently."

_Just wait until later. We'll both be having a good time. _"Elena's here."

"She is?"

Bonnie tries to pick her out in the packed living room but doesn't see her. "Where is she?"

"She went into the kitchen but that was awhile ago. I'm sure she'll find you eventually."

"Did she bring Damon?"

"Not that I saw."

Bonnie wonders how Stefan will react to encountering Elena without her new Salvatore boyfriend, at a party that she never would have hesitated to show up to with Stefan.

"I'll find her."

Tyler grunts his approval.

Bonnie goes into the kitchen but doesn't see Elena there. So she heads back into the living room and she's not there either. _This house is too big, _she thinks as she wanders around further, peeking into other rooms. It's just like Elena to come to this thing and then hide out because she's changed her mind again. Bonnie reaches the home office, which once belonged to Tyler's dad. She remembers being in here once.

Elena is sitting at the desk, spinning around in the leather chair.

"What are you doing?" Bonnie asks.

The chair comes to a slow stop.

"Bonnie! Hi!"

"I thought you said you weren't coming tonight."

Elena shrugs her shoulders. She's wearing a pair of super tight jeans and a purple jacket. Her hair is down, pin straight and shiny. "I changed my mind."

"Where's Damon?"

"We had a...thing."

"By thing do you mean fight?"

Elena drums her fingertips on the desk's surface. "I guess."

"What about?"

"He asked me why I didn't want him to come here with me tonight."

"Oh." Bonnie can't say she didn't know this was going to happen. It was the only thing that could happen. It's Damon and it's Elena. Neither of them has changed _that _much. "Well, do you want to come outside?"

"I didn't want to interrupt," Elena says. "I saw you guys dancing. Do you think Stefan and Caroline are-"

"_No._"

Caroline is in love with Tyler. Stefan is still in love with Elena.

"Come outside," Bonnie urges. "Let's have some fun." _Before tomorrow when you freak out because Stefan's missing_.

Elena nods her head. She's still tapping her fingers on the desktop. Bonnie's gaze drops to her hand. "Well," she says, when it looks like the brunette isn't going to get up, "I'll be out there when you decide to come."

Bonnie returns to the living room. Caroline and Stefan are still dancing and Tyler hasn't moved from the wall.

"We have a problem," she tells him.

"What kind of problem?"

"Katherine is here."

* * *

__**A/N**: I'll try to have the next part up soon. I'm headed back to school tomorrow and I have bajillion things to do but I'll try to cut into my aimless Tumblr surfing to finish up the second half of this chapter and post it. Thank you for all your reviews. I love and appreciate them all!


	7. Rinse

Lather, Rinse, Repeat History

Part II

_Well, fuck_.

Tyler leads Bonnie to his bedroom where the music is faded and muffled. Caroline didn't seem to notice them leaving. She's too occupied with Stefan.

He's only just closed the door when he speaks. "You're sure it was Katherine?"

"Positive. She wasn't wearing Elena's ring."

Tyler marvels at how Elena and people with her face are managing to screw up everything for him lately. He sits down on his bed and runs his fingers through his hair. "We didn't plan for this."

"Why would we have planned for it? Katherine's supposed to be in hiding."

"Yeah. So why is she here? Caroline said Katherine wants to be as far from Klaus as possible at all times."

Bonnie sits beside him on the edge of the bed, looking small and sparkly on the plaid sheets. "Klaus isn't here," she reminds him. "And Stefan is single."

"She came back for _Stefan_?"

Bonnie throws up her hands. "Don't ask me. I stopped being able to see the appeal awhile ago."

Tyler rests his elbows on his knees and heaves a giant sigh. "So what do we do?"

Telling the others complicates their plans. _A lot_. If Katherine's there for Stefan, she's going to be keeping a close eye on him and it's unlikely she'll stand by and let him be staked. But Tyler thinks a witch and a hybrid might be intimidating enough for Katherine to stand down. But she's old and Bonnie says her aneurysms don't work on Katherine. But Bonnie's got other magic and all Tyler would have to do is bite her. Even if Klaus would give her his blood, he's far away. And he must be far or else Katherine wouldn't have risked coming back, single Stefan or not. She won't be able to survive.

"Do you think we can take them both?" Tyler asks.

"We decided we couldn't take Damon and Stefan at the same time," Bonnie reminds him. "What makes you think we can take Stefan and Katherine?"

"I don't know," he says. "I think we're more prepared than you think. If you ask me, we can do it. You take Katherine. I'll take Stefan. Unless you'd rather deal with Stefan."

"And if we can't? We risk getting ourselves killed," she says, "or one of them managing to get away. And either of them escaping means they'll tell the others. Katherine won't keep that a secret any more than Stefan would."

"They won't escape," Tyler says. "We get them into the room and they're locked in."

"And so are you. If either of them manages to do anything to me, you'll have to deal with both of them alone. And they _will_ kill you."

"Well, we're not calling it off," Tyler says.

"No, we're not," Bonnie agrees. "We just have to think some more. There's a way around this." She's thinking."The glamour. I'll do one for Katherine, too."

"Are you going to be able to do that?"

Bonnie nods. "I just have to switch it up a little. I still need Elena to get Stefan to the room. So _I'll_ be Elena."

"What?"

"Watch."

Bonnie goes into his bathroom. Elena steps out. And it _is_ Elena. Down to the ring on her finger.

"I had to go in the bathroom," Bonnie explains, "so you wouldn't see me change. If I'd done it right in front of you, it wouldn't have worked."

"Why not?"

"It's an illusion. If you know it's me you're looking at from the start, your brain won't believe it."

Tyler blinks. "Sounds complicated. So, what about Katherine?"

"I'll do what we were originally planning," Bonnie says. "I can create a separate illusion for her. To distract her."

"What are you going to show her?"

"Klaus. Hopefully all she'll need is a glimpse of him to decide to leave."

* * *

Tyler distracts Caroline. All it takes is a whispered request to dance and he's pulling her into a secluded corner where she kisses him while Bonnie peeks around the corner. She feels around the room for Katherine, something else dead. But all she lands on are a few of the remaining hybrids and Stefan. Wherever Katherine is now, she's not making her move yet and if she was, she'd only see Elena. Bonnie tries to forget how that may be a problem as well. a If she thinks of one more thing that could go wrong, she won't go through with it.

_You don't need to be afraid_. _Of anyone_.

Bonnie reaches Stefan and touches his shoulder. When he spins around to face her, his mouth drops open. "Elena," he says. "Caroline said you weren't coming."

"I changed my mind."

Bonnie can hear Elena's voice, a running current beneath her own. All Stefan hears is Elena.

"I wanted to talk to you," she said. "If you don't want to-"

"No," Stefan says, cutting her off. "Let's go." He's so eager it's sad. Weeks later, after all this time with Caroline trying to get him over the breakup, nothing has changed. Nothing will ever change.

Bonnie leads. When they reach the stairs, she glances around. With a flutter of her eyelids, an image of Klaus appears. He's standing at the door with his arms hanging loosely at his sides. No one else acknowledges him. Not even Stefan. He is for Katherine only. _She just has to see him_. Katherine is good at self-preservation, maybe better than all of them. She won't stick around if she thinks Klaus is there. Not even for Stefan. Bonnie smiles to herself as she and Stefan reach the landing and she leads him to the room he'll die in.

* * *

Tyler watches Elena - _Bonnie_ - disappear up the stairs with Stefan. Caroline doesn't notice. She's been drinking and she's so excited that they're having fun together that no one could distract her from that. But Tyler knows he has to go. There's only so much bullshit Bonnie will be able to spew before Stefan makes a move on her and Bonnie may be up for lots of things, but Tyler doesn't think that extends to making out with Stefan to sell the Elena angle.

"I'm really glad you did this," Caroline says. She's still speaking clearly but her tone's lighter than usual, even for Caroline. She holds his hand in a loose grip, her hand small and dainty inside his. "It's nice, you know, to just have fun again. We never have fun anymore. Nothing's fun anymore."

"Yeah," Tyler agrees. He promises himself that he'll have more fun once this over. Fun with Caroline. Fun with Gilbert. Fun with Bonnie even, if she wants. He can be Tyler Lockwood again. Tyler Lockwood, privileged rich boy with an attitude problem. He can be that if he wants. He can be anyone else he wants. Once he's free. Free of the Salvatores, free of Klaus. Then they can have fun. _Real_ fun. Getting high in the woods, drinking in the dark like stupid teenagers fun instead of playing the game of Life or Death every other day.

Caroline throws her arms around her neck. "I love you, okay? _I love you_."

"I know. I love you, too."

"Are you sure? I know we're having problems but we're fixing them, right?"

Tyler looks at her. She's still that same Caroline, the one who was never sure if anyone loved her like they said. "I'm sure. And yes,we're fixing them." _One of them will be fixed by the end of the night. _

He sees Caroline exhale. Happily. She was worried. "Will you dance with me?"

"I..." He thinks of Bonnie upstairs. But Caroline...who was so happy only minutes ago and so sad so suddenly, needs him. _Just give me a few minutes, Bonnie. _"Yeah."

* * *

Bonnie's mind is in two places. Upstairs with Stefan, telling him things Elena would say. Downstairs with Katherine. Klaus is only walking. He picks up a drink and swallows it down even though it's cheap and the stuff only teenagers would enjoy. He hasn't found her yet. He hasn't even made eye contact. Maybe she's seen him by now. Maybe she's already gone. But Bonnie feels the house again. The numbers haven't changed. Katherine is still there. Bonnie wants to go further, wants to _see _Katherine, but doing so could push her harder than she intends. Either illusion could break at any moment. And with Stefan right in front of her, this one seems especially important.

He's saying something. Half her mind comprehends. The other only wants Katherine.

_Find her_.

Klaus moves toward the office. Katherine isn't there anymore but he lingers for awhile. He takes a loop across the floor, sidestepping people that don't see him anyway, people that he doesn't even exist to.

Bonnie reaches out again, more insistent this time. _Find her_. She's not downstairs anymore.

"Am I interrupting?"

Klaus sputters and disappears.

Katherine stands at the door. She's not inside, not yet. A single step and she will be.

_History repeating_.

"...Katherine?"

Stefan has caught on to her a lot easier than he has to Bonnie. "What are you doing here?"

"I came to pull you out of your funk," Katherine says. "Just in time, too." Her gaze slides over Bonnie easily, like she's an insect that Katherine would love nothing more than to crush. The illusion is holding. She's still Elena. She can stay Elena. But she can be Klaus, too. She just has to make sure Katherine doesn't come in. If she comes in, she's trapped inside until Bonnie frees them. And her and Tyler will be forced to deal with Stefan _and_ Katherine. She _can't_ come inside. Bonnie has to play it just right. Klaus coming up from behind will force Katherine into the room with them, looking for another means of escape.

_Don't come in_.

Klaus appears in the adjoining bathroom. He turns as if to look at his own reflection in the mirror.

In front of Bonnie, Katherine moves to step inside.

_No_.

It's magic Bonnie's never done before. Magic that she always planned on trying, just not tonight and not under these circumstances. Shane introduced her to it. _It's compulsion basically. Without the vampirism. _Bonnie had agreed. Witches made vampires. If vampires can compel people then of course she can. That was why she'd studied the grimoires for any information she could gather about it. She hadn't gotten around to trying it. Until now.

_You don't want to come in,_ Bonnie thinks. You_ want to stay out there. Keep your distance. _

Katherine pauses midstep, looking confused. She moves backward though she doesn't seem to know why and looks up at Stefan. She blinks and seems to find herself again but she's not entering and that's good enough. "How about me and you go downstairs for a drink and a dance?"

"I'll pass," Stefan says.

Katherine pouts. "_Stefan_, she chose Damon. Only one person in this room wants you. And _only_ you."

Bonnie has a vague recollection of Katherine in fact wanting Stefan _and_ Damon. But then again, she wants Stefan more so maybe that counts.

Stefan still isn't moving. Katherine take another step and Bonnie grasps Katherine's mind to pull her back. _No. Stay there._

"Do I need to take you out of here myself?" Stefan hisses.

"Stefan," Bonnie says, remembering her voice, remembering who she is. Who she's supposed to be.

He moves toward the door.

Bonnie's mind reaches for him, too. She can feel her magic, being pulled and stretched and not in the good way. Not in the way that Shane tells her to. _It's a muscle, Bonnie_. She's overexerting it. But she doesn't have a choice.

_Don't, Stefan. Stay here. You don't need to go out there. She'll leave. _

Stefan freezes in place, suddenly hesitant. Bonnie's hold slips and he takes another step, toward Katherine, toward the door, toward the barrier that will alert him to everything wrong that's happening here.

_NO. _Bonnie feels as though she's grasping for something slippery and her hands keeping sliding off. She can't get a good grip.

And Katherine is moving, too. She wants to meet him halfway.

Bonnie panics and grasps at Klaus. He's still in the bathroom, his shape just waiting for his orders. She guides him to the bathroom door. All Katherine has to do is _see_ him.

"Elena."

Stefan is speaking in that concerned voice he uses. It sounds genuine now. Of course it is, when he's speaking to Elena. Bonnie remembers she's Elena and she turns her head to him.

"You're bleeding," he says.

_No_.

Bonnie can feel liquid on her lip. She presses her fingers to her nose. They come away bloody.

_No._

The image of Klaus disappears. Bonnie's fingers twitch as if to physically grab onto him and keep him. But she finds nothing and no matter how hard she tries, she can't bring him back. The blood seems to be coming on faster now. _The stake. Find the stake. _Use_ the stake._

But she can't find it either. She knows where they hid it, beneath one of the cushions in the chair in the corner. Before Bonnie would have been able to levitate it easily. It doesn't matter which one she stakes now. Katherine to shut her up, Stefan to finish the job. Just one of them. But she can't hold it. Every time she thinks she has a hold on it, she loses it.

The blood dribbles onto her bottom lip.

"Elena," Stefan says, gripping her shoulders. _Stay Elena. Stay Elena. You are Elena. _She tells herself she can hold this one at least. This one is easy. But it feels harder now. There's a weight on her that wasn't there before. Her head is starting to hurt and the blood is still coming. "What's wrong with you?"

_Tyler, where _are_ you_?

Katherine shifts and Bonnie sees her tilt her head to the side, narrowing her eyes. She is Elena but not Elena. They are both Elena tonight. _Stay Elena. _

The other false Elena speaks. "She's human."

Welcome to Mystic Falls, where being human is a real problem.

* * *

**The next part will be up shortly. I originally intended on it only being two parts but...it didn't work out that way. So there will be a pt. 3 and it'll be up very soon.**


	8. Repeat History

Lather, Rinse, Repeat History

Part III

Tyler hits the landing. He hears Katherine talking. "She's human."

_Fuuuuuuuck. _Tyler speeds to the door, standing several feet back. Katherine doesn't notice him.

Stefan doesn't understand what Elena being human means. Neither of them does, not yet. Bonnie is still Elena at the moment but judging from the nosebleed she's sporting, she won't be for long. "Elena?" Stefan says. "What's going on?"

Bonnie gaze finds Tyler's. She shakes her head slightly. And her voice is in his head. _They'll kill us both_. It seems to take something out of her and she stumbles. Stefan holds her up. But she's still Elena. She's still Elena.

Tyler thinks he may be able to take Katherine. She won't stick around if he bites her but what if she does? There's too much uncertainty. Bonnie would tell him not to.

"Let's sit down," Stefan says. He's so occupied with her that he doesn't even glance in Tyler's direction. From Katherine's body language, she's just annoyed.

"Did someone manage to find that cure you've been babbling on about?" Katherine asks.

Tyler doesn't have time to think about a cure (whatever the hell _that_ means) because Bonnie is in his head again. _Jeremy_.

If they had more time (and more privacy) he'd argue with her. Jeremy is a hunter but he's Elena's brother and Tyler is wary of anyone who lays claim to a super special relationship with Elena. For now, he thinks Bonnie is the only one he can stand. He knows nothing about Jeremy's relationship with Stefan but if it's like anyone else's relationship with him, it's better than theirs with Damon. Jeremy might not help them.

But he'll help Bonnie.

He finds Jeremy in the kitchen with April, who is an obvious lightweight and shouldn't have been let in the door. "Gilbert," Tyler barks, grabbing his arm. "Come with me."

"What for?" Jeremy still sounds bitter about their earlier exchange but he comes along without much protest, until they're out in the hallway.

"Me and Bonnie need your help."

"Bonnie?"

"How drunk are you?"

"Not. I'm still on my first drink. What's going on?"

"I'll explain later," Tyler says. "Like, tomorrow. Do you have anything with you? Anything hunter...like?"

Jeremy is confused. "I have some of Connor's stuff in the car. I haven't used much of it yet but-"

"Do you have vervain?" Caroline's said that Stefan started building up a tolerance and he knows Katherine is all but immune to it now. It may not work but whatever advantage they can get now that Bonnie's help is so uncertain. He shouldn't have stayed with Caroline. Who knows what Bonnie had to do up there to keep them both at bay and now he's sure she's too weak to do what they'd planned. If taking Stefan and Katherine was a risk before, it's an even bigger one now. _  
_

"Yeah. What's happening? Where's Bonnie?"

"Go get the vervain and whatever else you think you could use to kill a vampire."

"So basically everything in the car," Jeremy says. "Is there a vampire here?"

"There's _always_ a vampire here. Just get the stuff. The room that you used to trap Katherine last time, you remember which one that was?"

Jeremy nods.

"Meet me there. You'll see when you get there. And _hurry up_." He's about to go but stops and grabs Jeremy's arm again. "If you see Caroline, _don't_ tell her."

* * *

Katherine looks like she wants to keep as much space between herself and Bonnie as possible. Maybe it has something to do with them thinking Elena's human again. She stands just behind the spell's barrier. At least that one won't break. "Elena," Stefan says, "talk to me. What's going on?"

Bonnie couldn't speak even if she wanted to. It's like her jaw has been wired shut. Even thinking has become difficult. Talking to Tyler took more out of her than she anticipated and now she doesn't even think she can stand _and_ keep up Elena's appearance. She stares down at her trembling fingers and sees her nail polish. Elena's nails have no polish on them. She manages to ball her hands into fists and hides them.

"Another day, another Elena drama," Katherine comments.

"_Shut up_," Stefan hisses.

Katherine rolls her eyes. "How none of you are sick of this yet is a mystery. How about some self-sufficiency, _Elena_?"

"What's going on up here?"

Tyler's voice is a godsend.

_Finally_.

He looks back and forth between Bonnie and Katherine. "Katherine, I assume," he says.

"Tyler Lockwood," she says. "We haven't officially met."

"But you made sure I activated my curse."

Katherine shrugs her shoulders. "Bitter, table for one?"

Tyler puts himself between her and the door but stays outside it still. If Jeremy's coming, he betrays nothing and Bonnie can't even begin to enter his mind and ask. "What's wrong with Elena?" he asks.

"I don't know," Stefan answers. "She's human. I don't understand."

_A cure, _Katherine said. What cure? Bonnie knows without having to dwell on it that it's something she's been left out of the loop on. _Again_. But her mind can't make room for it right now. There's already a lot going on in there.

"Human? Is that why Klaus is on his way back?"

Katherine stiffens behind him. "Come again, Lockwood?"

_Yes. Klaus. Use Klaus._

"One of the hybrids called a few minutes ago," Tyler says. The lie rolls off his tongue effortlessly. "Klaus just got back in town. He's on his way here. They wouldn't say why."

"I guess that's your cue, Katherine," Stefan says.

"I'm inclined to agree," the other vampire sighs. "That's too bad though. I wanted to talk about us."

Stefan rolls his eyes. He wipes the blood from Bonnie's face with his sleeve. "Whatever this is," he says, "you're gonna be fine." The smile he gives her is probably reassuring to Elena but it only annoys Bonnie. She clings to the illusion. _Hold it. Keep holding it_. It's the only reason she's still conscious. She just needs to give Jeremy and Tyler some time. It annoys her even more, to depend on Jeremy in this, but it may be the only chance they have.

* * *

_I'm going to kill Gilbert_, Tyler thinks. He's taking his sweet time and Tyler wonders if he's gotten caught up. Maybe April tried to talk to him. Or even Caroline. Jeremy would have no problem shaking April but Caroline would be difficult. He'd go downstairs himself but leaving Bonnie isn't an option and Katherine _still_ isn't leaving. Maybe her fear of Klaus isn't as all consuming as they thought. She comes to stand on the other side of him, painfully close to the barrier

"Isn't self preservation supposed to be your game?" he says. "Do you want to end up with your heart and head on opposite sides of this room?"

Katherine looks at him with narrowed eyes. "For a hybrid-"

Tyler doesn't find out what he is (for a hybrid) because suddenly there's a stake embedded in Katherine's chest. A few inches shy of her heart but it's in there all the same. And that matters very little to Tyler because Katherine staggered, taking a few steps back. She's over the line.

_Fuck. _

Jeremy is standing a few feet back, holding up some weird hunter type contraption. It's not a crossbow but something like it. He queues up another stake as Katherine pulls hers free. But when she steps toward him, she hits the wall. "I see you're up to the same tricks," she says._  
_

Stefan is staring but he has a look on his face, like he doesn't fully understand it.

Jeremy aims at her again and Katherine stares, daring him to do it.

There's a look on Jeremy's face that Tyler hasn't seen before. Something dark. Something dangerous.

There's no time to think about it. Stefan might be catching on at any moment. And Bonnie won't last forever.

Tyler speeds over the line and launches himself at Stefan. If Jeremy's confused, he doesn't show it. And Katherine is too occupied with the stakes Jeremy is sending at her heart to help Stefan.

The vampire's hands grip Tyler's throat, holding him back. Tyler's fangs are bared and his body hot with the possibility, the expectancy. It's so close. One bite. They can keep Stefan in this room the whole time the venom works its way through. He'll be dead. "What are you _doing_?" Stefan hisses.

* * *

Bonnie sees it happening. It's happening. Finally happening. Jeremy is keeping Katherine busy and he's not even trying to help Stefan. They can do this. But they can't. She knows they can't.

_A cure_.

Stefan knows about a cure. Bonnie knows _nothing_ about a cure.

She exhales slowly and shuts her eyes. She's been holding onto this illusion for so long, it's hard to let it go but when it slides away it's as if a weight has been lifted. Her limbs feel like they weigh a ton but she's herself again. She wipes what remains of the blood away. When she stands, it's on shaky legs. She barely acknowledges Tyler and Stefan or Jeremy and Katherine until Jeremy cries out and she turns.

He's not hurt.

Katherine's skin is grayed and brittle looking and the stake juts up from her chest like a sick lawn ornament.

He hit her heart.

Their eyes meet for a moment. Him, wondering where his sister went and where Bonnie came from. Her, trying to think of an easy way to explain. But they're both saved from awkward questions when Tyler is flung across the room. His body bounces off the barrier at the doors and falls but he's up in seconds, fangs bared and eyes dark and narrowed. He goes for Stefan again.

"Jeremy," Bonnie says. She extends her hand and he takes it without hesitation. He remembers what she needs him for. She feels better. Powerful again. Her body is still weak but her magic is strong with Jeremy behind it, warm with blood and life and nature inside him.

"Tyler," she says. Her voice is only hers now. "_No_."

Stefan looks back and forth, from Tyler to Bonnie to Jeremy. "What are you doing? What _is_ this?"

"Nothing, Stefan," Bonnie says. "Nothing." She releases Jeremy's hand to approach him. She thinks he may try to hit her but he seems too confused. That's Stefan. Ask questions first. This is Bonnie he's looking at. Bonnie has never hurt him before. The good brother, the one she trusts. Bonnie would never hurt Stefan. Damon, maybe. Damon, _definitely_ but not Stefan. She touches his chest, hard and cold against her skin. "You're going to be fine." His eyelids flutter and then close and he hits the floor with a thump.

For a moment, they stare down at Stefan's prone body. Bonnie looks to Katherine. The other Elena. The one that came first. Tyler marches to her body and yanks the stake from her chest. He turns to Stefan. "Tyler, _no,_" she repeats.

"What do you mean _no? _This is what we've been planning!"_  
_

"I know," she says apologetically. "But I need to know about this cure."

Jeremy comes to stand closer to them. "_What_ have you guys been planning?"

Bonnie ignores him, keeping her eyes on Tyler. "Please, Tyler. This could be what we've all been looking for." She can save Elena from herself They can be normal again. She can see in Tyler's face it's not enough. "It could help the hybrids, too."

That gets his attention.

"They'll be werewolves again."

"They won't be _sired_ anymore," Bonnie says. "Tyler, we _will_ do this. Just not tonight. _Please_."

Tyler scowls and turns to the door before he's stopped short by the barrier. "Can you take this down?"

Bonnie nods. "Jeremy?" He offers her his hand again.

"You'll explain this, right?" he says.

"Yes." As soon as the barrier falls, Tyler speeds through the door and when Bonnie looks up at the space he vacated, the stake is lying there, discarded.

"So...do you want to explain now or later?"

Katherine is dead. Stefan is alive. _For now_.

Welcome to Mystic Falls, where nothing goes as planned.

* * *

**I'm a little fuzzy on who exactly knows about this cure in canon. Caroline and Jeremy know I guess, from Stefan. But Bonnie and Tyler are like the most unimportant people in town apparently so they don't know...I think. For the sake of this fic, they just found out. **

**So after this week's episode, I HAVE to work with some of the stuff that happened. So expect to see some of those plot points appearing here. They won't be happening exactly the same way obviously - since it's actually been a few weeks since the Stelena breakup but they will be happening. I'm actually really glad Jeremy's story went the way it did because that was the way I wanted it to go in this story and now it will! So yay. Thank you for reading and thank you for your reviews. **

***I can tell you what WON'T be incorporated and that is Hayley working with Shane. Shane's motives in this story have yet to be determined but if and when I decide what his role will be, Hayley won't have been involved.**


	9. We've All Died

**So people commented on the Beremy happenings. It wasn't my original intention to go there but I mean, it's there because I've always felt there was no closure between the two and this fic wouldn't be complete to me without acknowledging it. So it's going to become more obvious as this continues. I can't say how far it's going to go. It _is_ a Tonnie fic. However, Tyler's with Caroline right now and him and Bonnie aren't there yet in their relationship anyway. So Bonnie could very well go do whatever she wants with Jeremy (and after last night's ep and Steven in that suit, I am not opposed). And we can't forget about Shane either :)**

**On the Katherine front, I'm actually kinda sad she died. I really enjoy Katherine but you know, she can't live forever. **

**Thank you for reading and your reviews. **

* * *

We've All Died

Still alive. After all this, Stefan's still alive.

"What are you gonna do to him?" Jeremy asks.

Bonnie kneels next to the vampire. She can't stop staring at him. She can pretend he's dead this way. Still, not breathing, eyes shut. He could be dead.

"Bonnie?"

"I have to take his memories away."

"Are you sure you're strong enough?"

_I will be_. Shane said she'd get better at this. Working it like a muscle, using power sources when she has to. Channeling Jeremy did wonders. "There's a place we can go. It'll work if I'm there. Will you help me with him?"

Jeremy nods. He doesn't seem phased by any of it. She still hasn't explained it to him even though Tyler left fifteen minutes ago and Bonnie can't feel him in the house anymore. She'll have to find him but she has to do this first.

"What about Katherine?"

"We'll deal with her," Bonnie says. "But first, Stefan."

Jeremy has no problem carrying Stefan on his own. They take him down the back staircase and throw him in Bonnie's car. He's so tall they have to angle him weirdly. "He's gonna have a hell of a backache," Jeremy comments.

_Good_.

When they return for Katherine, Jeremy throws her in the trunk. They gather up the rest of Jeremy's hunter stuff and Bonnie comes across a syringe of vervain. "Tyler wanted me to bring it," he said. "It wouldn't have helped much, huh?"

"Yeah, well, use what you've got."

"So..._which_ vampire did Tyler want me to kill?"

"The one you killed."

"But which vampire was _supposed_ to die?"

"Look-"

"I get it," Jeremy says. "I _really_ get it. Especially now." He touches the back of his hand where she knows his hunter's mark begins. She can't see it but she wishes she could. The Jeremy she's known all these years is different and now, he's changing again. She wants to see what's changing him. "After I killed that hybrid, Chris."

"Tyler's friend."

"Yeah." Jeremy lowers his gaze. "I didn't know about it. I mean, Stefan didn't tell me what he'd done for us. If I'd known I wouldn't have done it."

"I know. Tyler knows, too," she adds. She doesn't know if it helps or even if Tyler knows. But he's not trying to kill Jeremy and they seem on good terms so maybe Tyler does know.

"But that's when it started. That's when I started feeling like..."

"Like?"

"I have to kill vampires," Jeremy said. "I _have_ to." He looks away like he's done talking about this now. "So, are we ready?"

Bonnie wants to keep talking about him and having to kill vampires. She can see where this is going and it's not something she's opposed to. Tyler might be though with him being Elena's brother. And he's probably already pissed that she wouldn't let him kill Stefan. "We can talk more when we get where we're going. But I have to find Caroline first."

"Does she know?"

"No one knows but us."

"What are you gonna tell her?"

"That I'm leaving?"

Jeremy smiles. "I'll wait for you out here."

* * *

"Where did everybody go?" Caroline demands. She grips Bonnie's hands and pulls her to her. Even drunk she's still aware that she's stronger now and she pulls Bonnie delicately. "I can't find Stefan. Tyler blew out of here and I don't understand how he just leaves his _own_ party. And where have _you_ been?"

"I'm leaving," Bonnie said.

"Why? The party _just _started."

"Jeremy," Bonnie says.

"What about him?"

"We're talking," Bonnie says. That's true.

"Oh. Ohhhhh. You're _talking_." Her grin is so genuine that Bonnie can't help but smile. "I mean, you can totally do better. Like, older professor better but I guess you could also do worse. Like Damon." Sometimes Bonnie thinks Caroline would also get on a staking Damon train but she wouldn't if it meant hurting Stefan. If she knew what they'd been planning to do... _  
_

Bonnie agrees. "Are you gonna be okay?"

Caroline nods. "Yeah, I'll be fine. I guess I'll just go to Tyler's room and...hang out until he gets back. Where do you think he went?"

Bonnie shrugs. _I'll find out_.

Caroline hugs her and Bonnie tries not to think about Stefan in her backseat.

* * *

"Wickery Bridge?"

Jeremy followed her in his car. The bridge was never exactly the same to Jeremy as it was to Elena. He'd talked about that once. He knew this was where his parents died but he could cross it without thinking about it. All Elena did was think about it.

"I'm here for the water," she explains. "And the moon." It's full tonight. "Take Stefan to the water."

Bonnie kicks off her shoes. There's no way she's going to undress in front of Jeremy, no matter the circumstances. But she feels bad for her sparkly dress as she wades into the water. She doesn't go to the center this time but stays close to the edge where Jeremy sits. "Scared to get wet?" she asks.

"You know I'm not."

To remind her he comes in too and holds Stefan up so he doesn't sink.

"Do you need to channel me?" he asks. He almost sounds eager. It makes Bonnie smile.

"No. I'm fine."

Bonnie touches Stefan's forehead and shuts her eyes. The water is cool but she ignores it. Instead she focuses on the steady, low current and thinks of the moon. The energy. She envisions the rocks along the water's bottom, the trees around them. Life lives here. She feels strong again and she forgets what it was ever like to feel weak. Then she enters Stefan's brain. She picks out the pieces that she doesn't want. Her approaching him as Elena, wanting to talk. Katherine. Tyler attacking him. Her becoming herself again. She takes it all away and leaves him with pictures of dancing with Caroline while still pining over Elena.

It's easy.

Welcome to Mystic Falls, where not many things are.

"Now what?" Jeremy says when Bonnie opens her eyes again.

"He won't wake up until morning," she says. "He won't remember anything." Her gaze drops to Jeremy's wrist. She can see the tattoo there, the one Elena told her about. She reaches out to touch it and runs her fingers along its lines.

"You can see it?"

Bonnie nods.

"Only hunters are able to see it."

"Well, witches made hunters," she tells him. "It's probably just the magic."

"And the water? And the moon?"

"Yeah."

"Bonnie-"

"We should do something with Katherine." She pretends she doesn't realize she cut him off. Now isn't the _best_ time to talk about them. Jeremy doesn't fight it.

"I can't believe I killed her," he says.

"You're a hunter now. It's what you do."

"I mean, I know what you wanted to happen didn't happen but...at least we made up for last year."

Bonnie smiles. "At least."

They pull Stefan from the water and leave him there at the water's edge while they get Katherine. "What are you going to do to her?" Jeremy asks.

"Well, I could burn her."

"Sounds like a plan."

Jeremy carries her into the trees and sets her down. While he takes Stefan back to the car, Bonnie sets fire to Katherine's remains and tries not to think of the other vampire doppelganger. She wonders if they'll ever be able to tell anyone that Katherine's dead. That would mean explaining it and all the things that came with it. But Katherine being dead is good news. Really good news. And they can't share it with anyone but each other. Jeremy returns soon after and he stands with her while Katherine burns. Her wet skin is warmed and dried by the fire but her dress will never be the same.

"What did you mean?" she asks. "About having to kill vampires?"

"I feel it. I'm stronger now. I'm faster. I'm _better. _I'm not human anymore. I'm a _hunter_. Hunters kill vampires."

"Elena's a vampire."

"I won't hurt her."

Bonnie knows he wouldn't if he could help it. Elena's the same way but she did kill Jeremy not too long ago. Maybe none of them can help it anymore. What if killing is becoming as natural as breathing?

"Are you going after them both?" he asks. "Stefan and Damon?"

"Yes."

"I want in."

Bonnie's not surprised. "I'll talk to Tyler."

* * *

Tyler left Mystic Falls. He returns to the town next to theirs where the bartender at a sketchy spot accepts his fake I.D. without question and passes him the beer he requests. Then the one he asks for after that. And after that. He has no idea how he'll get home. He could just run back if he wanted.

"Tyler."

Or maybe Bonnie will give him a ride.

He spins around on his bar stool. "Bennett," he says. "Want a drink?"

"You've had enough for the both of us." She sits down next to him and rests her arms on the bar. She's wearing a giant jacket over her sparkly dress. He thinks it may be Jeremy's. "I'm sorry about earlier. I know what we planned but it doesn't work right now."

Tyler nods his head slowly. He's been thinking about that. He spent all day, the past few days actually, imagining this happening. He got excited for it, prepared for it. Stefan Salvatore dead and his brother not too far behind.

"We will do this," she promises. "Just not tonight."

"Are we gonna wait until you find this _cure_?"

"No," she says. "We're gonna wait until I find out what Stefan knows about this cure. And then we'll do it. You know why I have to do this, right? You know why this is important?"

Tyler downs the rest of his beer. "Because of _Elena._"

Bonnie opens her mouth to speak but Tyler stops her. "And the hybrids, of course. I'm not dumb, Bennett. You threw that in there for me. This is about Elena. Everything is about Elena Gilbert. _Every fucking thing_. Mason died because of Elena. Jules died because of Elena. Chris died. Hayley died. For Elena. And so have you apparently. How many times exactly? Is it two or three? But know this. I won't die for Elena Gilbert. I've done it once but I won't do it again." _  
_

Welcome to Mystic falls, where everyone's died at least once.

Bonnie loves Elena, he knows that. And he wishes he hadn't said anything because if there's one thing that will make Bonnie ditch him, it's Elena. He expects her to get up and leave any minute now. Instead, she says, "I won't let you. I meant it when I said I would help you. And we _will_ do this. And we will cure the hybrids, too. I wouldn't make a promise to you that I didn't intend to keep."

Tyler nods silently.

"Jeremy wants to help."

Tyler laughs. "Oh yeah? Does he want help us or does he want to help _you_?"

"He wants to kill Stefan and Damon."

"That's good enough for me. Has he considered the collateral damage?"

"You mean Elena? Yes. He's ready. He _has_ to kill vampires."

"Yeah, like he killed Chris."

"Tyler-"

"I don't blame _him_ for that. But I mean...come on." He shakes his head and changes the subject. "If he _has_ to kill vampires, what makes you think he won't try with me?"

"He'll be fine," Bonnie assures him. "So will you. If he can keep himself from killing Elena, then he keep himself from killing you."

"We hope.

"Don't worry, Lockwood. I'll protect you."

Tyler smiles then lets out a heavy sigh. "I'm sorry about earlier. I should have been up there with you. I just...I got distracted. Caroline was...I'm just sorry."

Bonnie shrugs. "It ended up okay, didn't it?"

"We didn't kill Stefan."

"We would have if Katherine hadn't shown." They wouldn't know about the cure either but Tyler doesn't say anything about that.

"Fucking vampires," Tyler says. "They ruin everything. So, where's Stefan now?"

"Well, I wiped his memories. And we got rid of Katherine's body. Tomorrow Stefan'll wake up - somewhere on your property, by the way - and he won't remember a thing that we did tonight."

"You're sure?"

"Positive."

"So, can you...drive me home?"

Bonnie smiles. "Yeah, I'll drive you home, Lockwood."

Tyler slaps some cash down on the counter without bothering to count it and follows Bonnie to the door. He throws an arm around her shoulders. She's tiny next to him. Caroline is taller. "So...did you _channel_ Gilbert again?"

"Why are you trying to make it something dirty?"

Tyler laughs as they cross the parking lot. "I asked him."

"Asked who what?"

"I asked Gilbert if you two had sex."

Bonnie groans. "Seriously?"

He waits for her to say something else, like maybe she'll confirm or deny it. Instead, she says nothing and they reach her car. "He wouldn't tell me," Tyler says as she opens up the passenger door for him. The look she gives him with a sly little smirk tells him that she'll probably never tell him either.

"Good."

* * *

Bonnie leaves Tyler at his house. The party isn't going anymore. Caroline must have thrown everyone out. Bonnie wouldn't be surprised if she'd gone and compelled them all to leave one by one. She goes to Elena's house and texts Jeremy when she's outside. He comes down right away in a hoodie and sweatpants.

"Did you find Tyler?"

"Yeah. He's fine."

"Did you talk to him about me?"

Bonnie nods. "We're good. He has some reservations because you might try to, you know, kill him."

"No, I won't," Jeremy says. "We'll be fine. So how does this work?"

"We find times to meet. We plan. Then we do. And hopefully it goes better next time."

"Hopefully."

Jeremy glances back at the house. "You can come in, if you want. Elena's with Damon tonight. They don't hang out here that much actually. I don't think _he_ likes it."

"Why not?" She pretends that he didn't ask her to come in.

Jeremy shrugs. "Might have something to do with how I keep threatening to stake him."

"Maybe."

They both laugh.

"You'll get your chance," she says.

"Is it too early to call dibs on staking Damon?"

"Me and Tyler might fight you for it."

Jeremy's smile widens. Then fades. "She's different."

"She's a vampire."

"But Caroline's not that different. Tyler isn't either. But she is."

"Yeah," Bonnie agrees. She remembers Elena in her living room. And she remembers Elena when they were little. They've all grown up and Elena died. Maybe that's all it is. They're still growing, still dying. They've all died. Jeremy. Tyler. Caroline. Even Matt. None of them are alive like they used to be. She thinks of Stefan again and how close they'd come. Stefan_ will_ die. She knows a part of Tyler doesn't believe her. Maybe he thinks she's getting scared but she's not. The Salvatores _will_ die.

"I tried to talk to her the other day about her and him," Jeremy says. Bonnie almost forgot where she was. "And she was...I mean, I asked if she understood why I hate him. And why Caroline does.

Elena's responses to Caroline have been...interesting to say the least. She goes around it, defends Damon in her way. _It was a long time ago. He's different now_. Even Caroline gives up eventually. "What did she say?"

"Nothing. She didn't say a thing."

Bonnie arches her eyebrows. "Nothing?"

"Nothing," he repeats. "I'm not crazy about Stefan either but I mean, at least Stefan didn't kill me. At least he didn't hurt Caroline. It just isn't like her, you know. She used to care so much and now she doesn't really care at all and I don't get why."

Bonnie reaches out to rub his arm and then draws it away quickly. "I'll talk to her."

"Yeah, good luck with that." He slides his hands into his pockets and rocks back and forth on his heels. "Are you sure you don't want to come in?"

"Yeah, I should get home anyway." _The empty house probably misses me_.

For a minute she thinks Jeremy will let her go without saying anything more but she's wrong.

"I know you don't want to talk about it but I think we should talk. Not right now but eventually. I want to talk to you again." He smiles and she's reminded of that time last year, the first time they were trying to kill a vampire at the Lockwood place, when he asked her to dance. "There's so much I want to talk to you about. And not even stuff about us. Just stuff."

They never talk anymore. They talk about spells and her being strong enough or him coming back to life after she's killed him but they never just talk.

"I guess I could come in for like, a few minutes." She knows she'll get roped into staying for longer than that because Jeremy's arms are really big and he's smiling at her like he has a crush on her all over again and he's going to help them kill Stefan and Damon. And she can still see his tattoo and for some reason, she's really attracted to that even though she's never been the tattoo loving type.

Jeremy's face lights up. Like it did that time she let him kiss her in the hallway at school. "Okay, come on."

* * *

**So again, thanks for reading and reviewing! **


	10. Hunted

**Sorry for the longer wait. It's finals week so I'm super busy but once I go on break, updates will become more regular. **

* * *

Hunted

"Bonnie."

Bonnie opens her eyes to see Elena standing over her. The other girl looks at her curiously. "What are you doing here?" Elena asks.

"I...I slept here," Bonnie says, remembering. She'd stayed up with Jeremy, talking like he wanted to about nothing very significant. Like usual, they stayed away from the topic of their days as a couple. Instead, they talked about Jeremy being a hunter now, Bonnie getting her magic back on track. He'd listened while she told him what Shane had been teaching her and didn't make a single sarcastic comment or call him Professor Fratty or whatever it was Tyler liked to call him.

"I see that. Why?"

"It was late and I guess Jeremy didn't want to wake me." She shouldn't have fallen asleep here. Now Elena's going to think something's going on and she'll never hear the end of it. "Where is he?"

Elena shrugs her shoulders. "He's not here. Did you guys...you know?"

Bonnie sat up. "No." Even they had, she wasn't about to tell Elena all the details. He was still her brother. "We were just talking."

"So how was the party?"

"Disappointing," Bonnie answers. _In lots of ways_.

"So it's good we didn't come?"

_Very_, Bonnie thinks. She tries to think of some way to broach the subject of the cure without having to explain how she knows about it.

"There are some bagels somewhere," Elena says, "if you're hungry. I'm gonna call Jer."

"Before you do," Bonnie says, "I wanted to talk to you."

"About what?"

"You and Damon."

"What about us?"

Her and Damon are an _us_ now. This is strange and unfamiliar. When Elena was with Stefan, especially when she first met him, all she did was talk about him. There was nothing that was off limits, nothing Bonnie didn't want to know. It was new and exciting and Elena was happy. She's happy now, or as happy as Elena can be.

"How are you doing?"

"Fine. Why? Did Caroline say something?"

"No. What would she have said?"

Elena sighs and turns to go into the kitchen. "What she always says."

"Well she's not wrong," Bonnie says. She's gentler than Caroline. She knows her role. Caroline has never been shy about taking Elena to task. Maybe it was because everyone thought Elena was better than Caroline and all Caroline could do to prove them wrong was to point out just when and why Elena wasn't better than Caroline.

Elena turns back around. "So you agree with her? It's not like I'm glad you guys hate him."

"And it's not like we don't have our reasons," Bonnie says. "You know we have reasons, don't you? You _understand_ the reasons?"

"I'm not stupid, Bonnie." She sits down next to Bonnie on the couch and wrings her hands. "I wish I could talk to you guys about it. I _am_ happy with him. I think I deserve to be happy after everything that's happened to us. Why's that wrong?"

"If you want to be with Damon then be with Damon," Bonnie says, "but don't expect Caroline to just fall in line. What he did to her was awful. Worse than awful. You know that. I know that. _Everybody_ knows that."

"He's changed."

"When you turned, he tried to kill Matt," Bonnie reminds her. "And he turned Abby. He's the same just not with you. Don't ask us to be..." Bonnie didn't even know what Elena wanted them to be to Damon. Stefan had been better that way. He treated _them_ better though if that had been enough, Bonnie wouldn't have almost watched him die last night. Elena couldn't expect them to approve.

"I'll talk to Caroline," Bonnie says. "I'll ask her to lay off."

"You mean you'll ask her to stop being so vocal about it."

"Yeah."

"Meanwhile every time I'm with you guys, I'll know you're thinking about how much you hate him."

"No we won't." _There are much better things to think about_. _ Like Damon with a stake in his heart._

"Yes, you will. While you guys get to talk about Tyler or Jeremy or even that professor guy, I don't get to say anything about Damon? I'm _happy_, Bonnie and I don't get to share that with you?"

The back door slams shut. They both look around to see Jeremy coming in. Bonnie can't tell how much he heard.

"Jer, where've you been?" Elena asks.

"Don't act like you care."

Elena glances from Bonnie to Jeremy and back again. "Is something wrong?"

"Don't sit here and act like me and Bonnie and Caroline are important to you," Jeremy snaps. "If we were, you wouldn't be with Damon at all. And you _definitely_ wouldn't be sitting here wondering why we don't want to deal with you two."

Bonnie can't tell if this is a throwback to emo Jeremy or not. It's weird to see him this way, with his new image. This new Jeremy talking like the old one. Except he's not talking like the old one. This one was broken by Damon where the other one never knew him.

"Jeremy-" Elena stands up and she has that look on her face, a mix between hurt and angry. "We talked about this."

"No, we didn't. _I_ talked and you didn't listen. Don't pretend like you care about anyone that isn't yourself. Don't pretend like Damon's any good for anybody. And don't look us in the eye and tell us that you _wish_ you could talk to us about him like it's our fault we don't want to hear how happy you are with the guy who has made all of us miserable at one point or another."

"That's not what I meant."

"That's exactly what you meant!"

Bonnie isn't sure what to do. This has crossed over into Gilbert family drama and maybe it's not her place to step in. Still, sitting on the couch between the two of them, standing and yelling, isn't her idea of a good time either. Especially not when she's still in that super short dress and she feels naked now that the sun is shining.

"Jeremy, I know-"

"You don't know! You don't care!"

Bonnie has never heard Jeremy yell before. Maybe a couple times when they were younger but that was just because he was being stupid. This is new. There's anger. Bonnie tries not to look at either of them. She thinks of just leaving and letting them work it out. She's decided that's the best thing to do when Jeremy reaches into his jacket.

The stake he withdraws is perfectly crafted. It's not the one from last night. This one is made of darker wood and the tip is as sharp as any blade.

"Jeremy." Bonnie and Elena speak at the same time.

"You're a vampire. I'm a hunter."

"I'm your sister."

"You're a vampire."

Bonnie stands between them. This is because of last night, she can see it now. He killed Katherine. Hunters have an urge to kill and now Jeremy's has been fully awakened. He got a taste of it with Katherine and now her doppelganger is just standing there, right in front of him. Another vampire. Another stake. Another heart to impale.

"Let's just calm down," Bonnie says. "You're both upset."

"I'm not upset," Jeremy says.

"Jeremy," Elena says again. She steps around Bonnie to approach him. That's Elena. Bonnie grips her hand. Jeremy isn't himself. He found Katherine's heart last night. There's no reason he won't find Elena's.

"Bonnie, let go," Elena says, shrugging her off. "Jeremy, whatever this is, we can get through it." She extends her hand to him.

Over Elena's shoulder, Bonnie eyes meet Jeremy's. She shakes her head slightly. _She's your sister_, she reminds him. He's heard her voice, she knows he has. But his grip on the stake is still tight.

"Jeremy," Elena says. "It's me."

Jeremy finally looks away from Bonnie and down at Elena. "Maybe that's the problem."

He's a hunter so he moves faster. Bonnie knows that but she's still surprised when he grabs Elena's outstretched hand and yanks her toward him. Bonnie hears herself call out as he shoves the stake up somewhere between Elena's ribs. Bonnie doesn't think he hit the heart and Jeremy knows it, too. He pulls out the stake. He'll drive it through again and this time he won't miss.

Bonnie pulls Elena backward. The other girl seems more shocked than anything. Her hands are clasped over her stomach and Bonnie shoves Elena behind her. She reaches for Jeremy. Her hands find his arm then his hand, the one not holding the stake. "Jeremy," she says.

"Bonnie, don't-"

Maybe he remembers the last time this happened. She doesn't find out before Jeremy has fallen onto the sofa, unconscious. Just like Stefan last night. Just like Jeremy when they tried to kill Klaus the first time.

"Elena," Bonnie says when she turns around. She's healing but the blood is everywhere. Somehow Elena smeared it around even more. It's all over her hands and her arms. There's some on her face.

"I have to go," Elena says.

"Wait," Bonnie says. "We can-"

"_I have to go_." She grabs her bag and is out the door before Bonnie can think up a single reason she should stay.

She fishes her phone from her bag, still sitting on the other chair. She starts dialing Tyler. But he's a hybrid and whatever Jeremy's dealing with, he might try to kill him, too. If that's the case, her earlier assurance Tyler would be safe with him isn't going to hold up. She can't call Caroline either.

She'll deal with it herself.

But she calls Tyler anyway.

* * *

Tyler sleeps in. When he wakes up Caroline is already awake and she's doing her hair in his mirror. By now she has double the hair products. One set for her house and another for his. "Hey, sleepyhead." She bounces over to sit next to him and plants a kiss on his mouth. "You ran off last night."

"I know," he says. "Sorry."

"Where'd you go?"

"I just went for a walk," he lies. It's not a foolproof lie but it's the best he can come up with first thing in the morning.

"And a drink? Or more?"

"Yeah."

"If this is about Hayley, you can talk to me," Caroline says. "I'm here for you."

"I know." Even now, he isn't sure he can talk to Caroline about Hayley. She was important to him and Caroline might associate that importance with something romantic. After last night he's more aware of that than ever. "I'm fine now though."

"Are you sure?"

Tyler nods. "Positive. Thanks for kicking everyone out."

Caroline looks pleased with herself. Event management is Caroline's thing.

"Are you hungry?" she asks. "I was going to go raid your fridge."

"Knock yourself out."

She kisses him again and practically skips out the door. Whatever hangover she should have had wasn't presenting itself.

Tyler's phone rings and he grabs it. Bonnie's name flashes across the screen.

"Bonnie," he says, "calling to make sure I haven't killed anyone?"

"No. I'm calling because I just watched Jeremy try to kill Elena."

"Gilbert tried to kill Gilbert? What happened?"

"I think it's the hunter thing. He wouldn't have tried it otherwise."

"But she's okay?"

"Yes."

Tyler honestly can't figure out the fuss. It's too early.

"Are _you_ okay?"

"Yes."

"Where is he?"

"He's here, asleep."

"Where is..._here_?"

"His house."

"Why are you at their house? It's like-" He checks his watch - "eight thirty-two." Bonnie at Gilbert's house at eight thirty-two in the morning after she _channeled_ him last night. "Did you-?"

"Shut up, Tyler," Bonnie says. "This is a problem."

"Yes, the Gilberts trying to kill each other is a problem," he concedes. But if they keep failing, do they really need to pull out all the stops each time? He heard about Elena killing Jeremy a few weeks ago. That didn't take either. "Do you want me to come over?"

"No he might try to kill you, too."

"Remember when you said he wouldn't do that?"

"Shut up, Tyler."

Tyler grins. "Okay. So what are you going to do?"

"I'm going to wake him up," she says. "Then I'll have to figure out what to do. How do you keep a hunter from doing what hunters are _supposed_ to do?"

Tyler can think of an answer. He assumes Bonnie won't want to hear it and she won't be satisfied with it either. "You don't."

* * *

"That's very unhelpful," Bonnie tells Tyler. "I'm hanging up now. I'm gonna wake him."

"Good luck."

Bonnie sits down next to Jeremy on the couch and folds his hand up in hers. When she pushes up the sleeves on his jacket, she can still see the mark. She wonders if it should still be able to see it. Last night she'd chalked it up to nature and the channeling but there it is, still in sight. She lifts the magic that was keeping him under. She imagines it's like a fog, clearing away.

Jeremy's eyes flutter open.

"Hi," she says. She's still holding his hand.

He sits up and glances around the room. "Where's Elena?"

"She left."

Jeremy doesn't comment. He looks everywhere but at her.

"Jeremy," she says, "what happened? What were you thinking?"

"That she's a vampire and I'm a hunter."

"That doesn't sound like that was _all_ you were thinking."

Jeremy finally looks at her. "Did I say something that wasn't true?"

"No. But you did try to kill your sister so-"

"But I didn't," he snaps. "You stopped me."

"And you're angry about that?"

She knows he is.

"Jeremy, Elena isn't...If you want to kill vampires, you know which ones deserve it."

"Yeah."

"Elena's not one of them."

"Are you sure?"

"What?"

"She sides with them over us every time. What if she deserves it?"

"You don't mean that."

Jeremy loves Elena. Loves her more than Bonnie does. They're family and family protects each other. But Elena hasn't always found the best way to protect him. She shipped him off to Denver and that doesn't work but now she's staying at the Salvatore mansion with Damon, who killed Jeremy once.

Still, Bonnie knows he can't mean it.

Without thinking, she squeezes his hand.

Jeremy squeezes back. "You think I'm losing myself, right? I bet she thinks that, too."

"It's a change," Bonnie says. "We're all changing. We just have to...change together."

He shakes his head. "Connor was right about vampires and hunters. Vampires are dangerous. They hurt people and I can stop them. What's so wrong with that?"

Bonnie wants to remind him that Elena hasn't hurt anyone, that she's his sister but she knows he knows that already. He just doesn't care. "I don't think we change, Bonnie," he adds. "We just become more ourselves."

Welcome to Mystic Falls, where yourself is a scary thing to be.

* * *

**I'm done with finals and going back home on Thursday so I'll try to update that night (before or after the episode, either way). Thanks for reading!**


	11. Sired

Sired

"I'm confused. Why is Gilbert staying with you?"

Bonnie and Tyler are in the next town over. It's becoming their preferred location. If there are vampires or hybrids here neither of them knows about it and that's the way they like it. Here no one knows them and none of their friends are running around trying not to die. Here they are just Bonnie and Tyler, witch and hybrid, though no one knows that but them. Today they're sitting in a diner with cups of bad coffee in front of them.

"Because he can't stay with Elena." Bonnie gives Tyler a _duh_ look.

"But Elena's staying with Damon anyway."

"Well she needs to be able to go somewhere else if she _doesn't _want to stay with him." The last thing any of them need is Elena feeling like she has nowhere to be but with Damon. That's a recipe for disaster if there ever was one.

As they spoke, Jeremy was back at Bonnie's house getting acquainted with the couch which was going to be his home until he could manage not to kill his sister. After she'd changed clothes and showered, she'd told him where she was meeting Tyler to strategize.. He'd wanted to come with her but since they couldn't be certain he wouldn't hurt Tyler, he'd agreed to stay put. She'd done a spell to keep him confined to the house. He hadn't been happy with that.

"Are you _sure_ you don't have ulterior motives?" Tyler asks as he takes a sip of his coffee. He grimaces as he swallows it down. For some reason they're both still drinking it even though they established early on it was terrible.

"What are you trying to say, Lockwood?" Bonnie asks playfully.

"What do you think I'm trying to say, Bennett?"

"I think you're implying that Jeremy's staying at my house so I'll have easier access to...him and his..."

Tyler raises his eyebrows.

"...Him," Bonnie finishes.

"I might be saying that."

She must be getting used to Tyler's fascination with her relationship with Jeremy because she only smiles.

"It was so weird," Bonnie says. "He was fine the night before. We had a completely normal conversation and this morning he was like a totally different person." _Well not totally different._

"Well, you're not a vampire," Tyler says. "He won't react the same way to you."

"I guess. So what's the plan?"

"You tell me."

"I have to talk to Stefan."

"And once that happens, we're back on track?"

Bonnie can see it in his face he doesn't expect it to be that easy. And she doesn't either. Whatever the cure is, who knows what kind of obstacles they'll have to bypass to get it. And what if they need Stefan for longer than they anticipate?

"I hope so," Bonnie says.

On the table next to her, her phone starts to ring. It's Caroline. She sighs and presses ignore. She'd left a message earlier telling Caroline what happened with Jeremy but Bonnie doesn't want to talk about Jeremy trying to kill Elena anymore. It just gets more and more depressing. Especially since a solution to that particular problem is out of reach. And no one seems to think finding said solution is as urgent a task as she does.

"That was Caroline."

Tyler's about to speak when his phone starts ringing, too. "Caroline," he says.

"Well, answer it."

"You didn't answer yours."

"It must be important if she's calling us both," Bonnie points out. "Just answer it."

Tyler does. "Hello?" His face goes from bored contentedness to confusion and he sits up straighter in his seat. "Are you sure?"

"What?" Bonnie mouths.

Tyler holds up a finger.

"Okay, I'll be back soon," he says. "Just…don't do anything until I get back. We'll talk then….Okay. Bye."

As soon as he hangs up, Bonnie speaks. "What's wrong?"

"She thinks Elena is sired to Damon."

Bonnie's phone starts ringing again.

* * *

Bonnie and Tyler meet Caroline at her house. They arrive separately with Bonnie a few minutes behind him. When she gets there, Stefan is there, too. He looks completely out of place in Caroline's living room surrounded by Caroline's old school portraits and the Sheriff's weird knick-knacks. He looks at her and Tyler without a hint of remembrance of the night before, when Tyler almost had a stake in his heart. Tyler doesn't look at Stefan much at all.

"I would have called Jeremy," Caroline says, "but he might, you know...kill us."

"So how do you break a vampire's sire bond?" Stefan says. They all look at Bonnie.

"Do you expect me to know the answer to that question?"

Tyler cracks a smile. "Has anyone told Elena she's sired?"

"Not yet," Stefan says. "We're waiting."

"For what?"

"Until we have definitive proof."

"It sounds like we have it," Bonnie says. "She can't drink from blood bags because Damon tells her she needs blood from the vein. No other vampires have had that problem. Not Katherine and not Isobel."

"She killed Connor," Caroline adds. "And she's been acting totally different. We all know she has."

"But she's a vampire. Vampires are different," Stefan points out.

"Then tell Damon to tell Elena to drink from a blood bag and keep it down," Tyler says impatiently. Bonnie can't tell if he's annoyed because Stefan is there or if...he's annoyed because Stefan is there. "Then we'll know for sure."

"That means telling Damon about the sire bond," Caroline says.

"Yeah, I know," Tyler says. "Nothing's going to get solved if we're the only ones who know about it. So tell Damon. When it works, you guys can tell Elena and we'll figure out how to break it."

"It won't be the same as hybrids breaking their bond," Bonnie reminds them. "They have to turn over and over. Elena's a vampire. Same rules don't apply."

"What if we can't break it?" Stefan asks. "What if she's sired forever?"_  
_

Tyler speaks. "Then she's fucked."

Welcome to Mystic Falls where it's hard to find someone who isn't.

* * *

Stefan goes to talk to Damon. Caroline, Tyler and Bonnie stay behind to wait. "This explains everything," Caroline says. "That's why she broke up with Stefan."

"Stefan broke up with her," Bonnie reminds her.

Tyler's heard this story a few times by now. It exhausts him more than it should but he cares so little about Stefan and Elena or Damon and Elena that it takes all of his energy not to tell Caroline to drop it. She considers Stefan a friend and Elena, too. Of course she doesn't want Elena with Damon. If she's sired, that's even more reason to want her far, far away from him.

"Yeah because she was suddenly super into Damon."

"She's always been into Damon."

"But not like this."

When Tyler was sired to Klaus, he thought he hated him. He did hate him. But Klaus had freed him of turning. No more painful nights spent in the cellar with chains wrapped around him. No more loss of control. No more mood swings. He was all the good things about being a werewolf with none of the bad ones. Granted, he was dead now and if he thought about that for a long time, it sunk his mood. Klaus made him bite Caroline. He'd almost killed her because it was what Klaus wanted. If Elena was sired, she really was screwed. If she was sired to Damon, then she was almost as screwed as Tyler had been. He thinks of Caroline and what Damon did to her. The sire bond isn't like compulsion but it can be, if the sire knows how to use it. If Klaus wanted something, Tyler would give it to him. That was the price he paid for not being just a werewolf anymore.

He doesn't like Elena, not the way the others do. He wasn't kidding when he said he wouldn't die for her. Do anything for her really. It still seems like a waste to do so much for someone who never returns the favor. But she might be sired. And Tyler was sired. He wouldn't wish that on anyone.

It's a couple hours before Stefan calls Caroline.

"It worked," she says. "Elena drank from a bag and she's feeling fine. Apparently she's ecstatic. And she's overflowing with _gratitude _for Damon."

Tyler rolls his eyes at the same time as Bonnie. "So she has to break it."

"We have to tell her first," Bonnie says. "We can't just let her go on doing whatever Damon wants her to do and not know _why_."

"Stefan says Damon's going to tell her," Caroline says.

Tyler and Bonnie give her the same incredulous look.

"Yeah, I know that's a long shot," Caroline agrees, "but we have to give him a chance to. It might be better coming from Damon. Since he's her _sire_ and all." She exaggerates a shudder and stomps into the kitchen.

Tyler meets Bonnie's gaze. "Tell Caroline I'm going to talk to Shane. He might know something about it."

"I'll go with you."

Bonnie's eyes flit to the kitchen where Caroline is. She gives him a look. _No, you can't, _she tells him. _We're not friends, remember?_

The one sided conversation was cool _once_ but now it's just annoying that he can't talk back. "Caroline," he calls, "I'm driving Bonnie to Whitmore. We're talking to that Professor guy."

Caroline pokes her blond head out of the kitchen. "Why are _you_ going?"_  
_

"I'm the only one here that's been sired," he explains. "And I need to know. He might be able to help with the hybrids."

"Okay," she sighs. "I guess I'll hang here and wait for Stefan to come back." She doesn't seem to mind it. Maybe she thinks Stefan needs her more than they do at the moment. After all, it's not them with the ex-girlfriend who's sired to their brother.

* * *

"Don't call him Professor Fratty," Bonnie says as they walk toward Shane's office. She can just see Shane's face if _that_ happens.

"I don't call him that anyway," Tyler says. "It's the _Fratty Professor_."

"Either one," she sighs. "Okay?"

"Okay," Tyler agrees. "I'll call him Atticus."

Bonnie groans.

Shane smiles when he sees her and shakes Tyler's hand. "What can I help you with?"

"What do you know about sire bonds?"

"They're rare."

"Not rare enough," Tyler mutters as he examines some of the trinkets on Shane's shelves.

"Do you know how to break one? Between vampires?"

Shane squints at her. "You mean magically?"

"If that's the only way."

He sinks down into his chair and Bonnie sits down in her usual one. "You can't break a sire bond with magic. I've heard of hybrids, part werewolf, part vampire, who turn again and again to break their bonds to their sire."

Tyler pauses from his perusal of Shane's stuff. "Where'd you hear that?"

"Conference," Shane answers.

"But for vampires?"

"I don't know of any way to break a vampire's bond. The sire can tell his..._child_ if you will, to go on and live their lives however they see fit."

"But there's still a bond," Bonnie says. "The vampire does that because the sire tells them to."

"That's the point," Shane says. "You can't break a sire bond between vampires. Not to my knowledge anyway."

Bonnie looks at Tyler who leans against the wall with his hands in his pocket. He looks like he expected that. Maybe he did.

But Bonnie didn't. Elena can't be sired, not to Damon, and not for her entire, eternal life.

* * *

On the drive back, Bonnie stares out the window. If the sire bond can't be broken with magic, then Elena will be sired to Damon forever. There's no way Damon will let her go, not when he's been clinging to her this long. He didn't let her go when Stefan was her boyfriend. He didn't let her go when Elena told him to. He didn't let her go when Elena chose Stefan even after he became the Ripper again. Now that he had her, Damon wasn't going to let her go.

"So, what do you want to do?" Tyler asks.

"We have to help her," Bonnie says. "We can't just leave it to Damon." The thought of Elena, at Damon's mercy the way Caroline had been, makes her skin crawl.

"He might not use it," Tyler says.

"It doesn't matter. He doesn't have to want to use it for it to work. You said you wanted to make Klaus happy. Elena wants to make Damon happy. The things that make Damon happy don't usually coincide with things that make Elena happy. Like killing Connor. Look what that did. It's not about Damon not using it because he doesn't have a choice. If Elena thinks she can make Damon happy by walking into the sun without her ring, she'll do it. That's the sire bond. Right?"_  
_

"Right. But it's not the exact same for them," he adds. "You said Elena's said no to him more than once since she's turned. She has _some_ control."

"But not all of it. She needs all of it."

"The cure is still on the table," he points out. "Humans can't be sired to vampires."

"If there is a cure," Bonnie says. "We know less about it then we do the sire bond."

"But if there is one, that'll work."

"And if there isn't one, we're right back where we started."

"What's wrong? You were all over the cure this morning. And last night. Now you're changing your mind?"

"Maybe I just want this whole thing to be over with." It's getting complicated. She knew it wouldn't be easy. It's been a long time since something was easy but she didn't think it would be like this. If things had gone to plan, Stefan would have died last night. They'd be one Salvatore down. Maybe she'd be feeling better if it went that. Maybe she'd feel better if Jeremy hadn't tried to stake Elena this morning and if Elena wasn't sired to Damon.

Tyler looks like he doesn't want to talk about it anymore. Maybe she's biting his head off a little bit.

"I have a better idea," she says. Maybe it's not _better_ but it's a quicker fix. Quicker than searching for a cure, quicker than searching and maybe never finding one. "You'll like it."

"Tell me."

"We kill Damon. As soon as possible."

A slow smile spreads across Tyler's face. Bonnie can't help but smile, too. Tyler smiling - anyone smiling - has been a rare sight. It's hard to find something to be happy about.

Tyler lets out something between a _whoop_ and a laugh.

Yeah, he likes that.

* * *

**So I updated a bit sooner than I thought I would! Yay for procrastination. Anyway, I chose not to include Matt in the Jeremy storyline because (1) I don't like Matt and (2) I'm wondering how he would do anything to keep Jeremy from going all hunter on anyone besides yelling at him not to. **

**I forgot to mention that last chapter is pretty much the basis for the rest of this story. Tyler and Bonnie (and Jeremy) are going to becoming what they're supposed to be, whatever that is and whatever that means. There's going to be some changes for all of them but mostly for Bonnie and Tyler. Jeremy's in the same boat as Caroline, still secondary in this story but not so secondary to Bonnie and Tyler. Have I mentioned how glad I am Jeremy is doing things? **

**A couple of the plot points from 408 (especially the Expression stuff) will be happening here. I've already got it worked out. The sire bond has got to be the most ridiculous/hilariously perfect thing this show has ever done. For this fic, it works. **

**Thank you for all your reviews! **


	12. Magic House

Magic House

Bonnie has to tell Jeremy what's happened eventually. And she can't just leave him to stay in her house alone without any human interaction. He said he may call Matt and ask him to come by, being human and all but when she returns home, Jeremy hasn't moved from his spot in front of the TV and it doesn't look like anyone's been there.

"You were gone for a long time," Jeremy comments. "What were you and Tyler talking about?"

"I wasn't with Tyler," she said. "Well, I was. But we were dealing with other things. Like Elena being sired to Damon."

Jeremy turns his head to look at her. "Well, maybe that explains why I want to kill her so bad."

She expected more of a reaction.

"It doesn't really," Bonnie says, "but whatever makes you feel better."

Jeremy heaves a giant sigh. "That's the thing. I don't feel bad."

"Not at all?"

"Nope." He cocks his head to the side. "Am I freaking you out?"

"A little."

"Sorry." He sounds genuinely apologetic for that but somehow she knows he'll never be able to muster up that much in regards to Elena. "So, when are we doing this thing with Damon?"

"Soon," Bonnie says.

"How soon is soon?"

"Very soon. We have to work out the logistics and it's going to be awkward since you can't be in the same room as Tyler."

"I _can_," Jeremy says. "I can control myself."

"You couldn't this morning."

"That was this morning and that was Elena. I'm not gonna hurt Tyler. He hasn't done anything."

"Neither has Elena."

Jeremy looks at her pointedly. "We both know that's not true." Before Bonnie can ask him what that means, he says, "Call Tyler. Tell him to come over. We can talk it out right now."

"I don't think we should risk that."

There's a knock on the front door and Bonnie gets up to answer it. One glance out the window tells her this won't go well. She opens the door anyway.

Damon's never been to Bonnie's house before. Seeing him there is even weirder than seeing Stefan.

"Jeremy here?" he asks.

"Yes. Why?"

"I want to know what the _hell_ he's thinking. I've been with Elena since this morning and she's _freaking _out because he tried to kill her."

"Why don't you just to tell her to stop?" Jeremy says. He stands behind Bonnie, one hand on the wall. She's not worried. He can't leave and Damon can't come in. If Damon's come looking for a fight, if Jeremy's looking to accept one, they'll both be disappointed. "You're her _sire. _If her whining is bothering you, tell her to shut up."

"Jeremy," Bonnie says. "I'll handle this."

"Then allow me to watch."

Bonnie sighs and looks back to Damon. She hasn't seen much of him since he became Elena's...boyfriend or whatever. Maybe she expected him to look different now that he's gotten what he wants. But he looks exactly the same. Like an asshole. The same leather jacket and the same stupid thing he does with his eyes.

"You should go," she says. "I'm helping him."

"Doesn't seem to be working."

"You being here definitely isn't."

"The only reason I'm not out there separating your head from your shoulders is because she won't let me out," Jeremy snaps. "The minute she does, I'm coming for you."

"_Damon, leave_," Bonnie says. When they do end up killing Damon, Jeremy's going to be at the top of the list of suspects. It won't help that he'll actually have contributed to the effort. "Jeremy's not going to do anything to you or Elena. I'm handling it."

"You better."

She's getting really sick of Damon talking to her like that.

"Don't come to my house again, Damon," she says. "You're not welcome here."

"Stefan's just as pissed as I am. You didn't have a problem inviting him in."

If it's supposed to be a threat, it falls flat. She doesn't doubt Stefan's ability to hurt her. He's just as single minded as Damon in his pursuit to protect Elena, even though she's the same. They should be on the same side. Sometimes she wonders how they ended up like this. Neither Salvatore would get far if he did try something. It's been over a year since she first met them and they were stronger and smarter than she was. But now she's grown. She's been super powered and powerless and she can kill a Salvatore brother if she wants to. With some more practice, she won't need Tyler or Jeremy to help her do it. But that may disappoint them.

"Tell Stefan he can consider his invitation revoked."

Welcome to Mystic Falls, where there's a spell for that.

* * *

Tyler's never been to Bonnie's house before. He's seen it when he passed through but he's never known it's Bonnie's. It looks small from the outside. When he raps on the door, it's Jeremy who answers. If anyone asks, it's him Tyler's come to see. Bonnie told him about the barrier she created, to keep Jeremy inside but Tyler's still wary. And a barrier won't matter once he's on the other side of it.

"Feeling any killing urges, Gilbert?"

"Not yet, Lockwood." He turns around and starts back inside. Tyler sees a weird setup on the sofa, sheets and a blanket and a pillow.

"Where's Bonnie?"

"She's in here."

"Well, can you get her? She has to invite me in."

Jeremy must have forgotten. He calls out to Bonnie who comes from the upstairs at a jog. "Oh, hey. Come in."

Tyler steps over the threshold. It's still weird that he has to be invited in. Granted, there aren't many people inviting him anywhere. It's not like he's had the time to make loads of new friends though Hayley did invite him into her apartment when they met. He likes to think she'd be glad to see he's doing something with himself now, something that doesn't include waiting around for Klaus to ruin his life in some other way. She'd also probably call him stupid for sharing space with a hunter who tried to kill his own sister a few hours ago. But Bonnie's there. He took her seriously when she said she'd protect him from Jeremy if need be.

"Damon stopped by," she says as she reaches behind him to shut the door.

"What did he want?"

"My head on a stick, I think," Jeremy says. He doesn't _look_ dangerous. He's just sitting there, watching TV like Tyler's as human as him and Bonnie are.

"I have to finish a spell," Bonnie says. She looks between him and Jeremy.

Finally Tyler realizes. She doesn't want to leave them alone together. Just in case. "Yeah, I'll come with you."

Jeremy gives them an annoyed look but doesn't say anything.

Bonnie's bedroom is filled with sunlight when they enter. It's a little messy with clothes thrown here and there but she's not worried about it. There are books that look ancient on her desk next to the cracked spines of her history and algebra textbooks. There's a potted plant on the windowsill, in full bloom with bright pink petals. It looks too exotic to be local. "I grew it myself," she says when she notices him staring. "With magic."

"See?" She touches the stem with her thin fingers and closes her eyes. The petals extend further and it grows up another inch or so. She's so unfazed by it, making this thing grow when Tyler just wants to stare at it longer. He supposes it's because she's been doing this for awhile. The thrill has probably worn off.

She sits down in the center of her bed and folds her legs. There's another old looking book there.

"What's the spell?"

"A spell to rescind invitations," she answers. "For Stefan."

"When did you invite _him_ in?"

"I was emotionally compromised," she says. "My judgment was affected. Now be quiet." She closes her eyes.

Tyler wonders if he'll feel a change. He waits for it, utilizes all his senses. But all he hears is Bonnie's steady breathing, her heart beating calmly. Jeremy's downstairs eating from a bag of chips. Her room smells like some kind of perfume, the kind she wears sometimes and something earthier. Herbs, maybe. He can see her pulse point throbbing in her neck beneath the gold chain of her necklace.

"It's rude to stare," she says. Her eyes are still closed.

"I thought you wanted it to be quiet."

She shrugs.

"You can sit down, you know," she says.

"You're still talking." He sits down across from her. The bed dips with his weight.

"I'm aware, thank you."

When she opens her eyes again, Tyler can't tell if anything's happened. "Did it work?"

"I think so," she says. Then she becomes more certain. "Yeah. It worked."

"So, Gilbert hasn't tried to kill me yet."

"You've only been here a few minutes," Bonnie reminds him. "Give him awhile." Then she becomes serious. "If he tries anything, I'll handle it. Don't...hurt him or anything."

"Yeah, yeah. Damon say anything else when he came by?"

"No. He just came to prove he's a good boyfriend by trying to rough up Elena's brother."

"Did he tell Elena she's sired?"

"We didn't get to that. But I doubt it."

"If he doesn't tell her, who will?"

"I will. Or Caroline. Or Stefan. Or Jeremy. Or even you. If he doesn't tell her, he's going to have a hard time making sure she doesn't know."

"She might not care," Tyler says. "I didn't."

"Elena will. She's always cared."

"She won't care if he doesn't want her to."

Bonnie frowns. She reaches for the book.

"What is that?"

"It's a grimoire. It's basically a spellbook."

"What's in it?"

Bonnie blinks. "...Spells."'

Tyler rolls his eyes. "I mean what kind of spells?"

"Lots," Bonnie says. "I have more. They're personal for witches. You write them yourself."

"Whose was that?"

"It belonged to my Grams." She turns it around so he can look at the pages. They're heavy and marked with dark ink. The handwriting is wide and loopy.

"Do you have one?" he asks as he touches one of the pages. He expects it to do something. Maybe glow. But it's just a page. He turns it and sees instructions for making a talisman of some kind.

"It's not as nice as these," Bonnie says, "but...yeah. I started working on it after I started meeting with Shane." She turns around and pulls a notebook from underneath her pillows.

"This is your History notebook," Tyler says.

"Well, there's history in there, too," she says. "I haven't gotten around to finding a book to use."

Tyler smiles as he opens it. There _is_ history in there, notes on a few ancient wars before all traces of academia are abandoned in favor of spells and incantations. Some are one line and others go on for pages. Some are written in the vivid marks of a highlighter, others in various colors of ink. "Your handwriting is terrible," he comments. "I can't read any of this."

Bonnie whacks his knee.

"Will you show me something?"

"I showed you something already," she says. She points to the flower.

"I know. But something else. Something _big."_

Bonnie glances around her room. "Well we're limited because we're in my bedroom but I can levitate something."

"That's all you've got?"

Bonnie hits him again. "I'll levitate _you_."

"_Really?_"

"Yes," she says. "Get on the floor."

He takes off his jacket and tosses it onto her bed. He sits and Bonnie kneels next to him. "Now lay down."

Tyler lies back. On her ceiling there are posters that he didn't notice at first. Girl bands. One of them may be the Spice Girls. Tyler only knows who they are because of Caroline. Maybe her and Bonnie went through that particular phase together. Still he points upward. "Seriously?"

Bonnie looks up and laughs. "It's been there forever. Now, relax. And close your eyes."

"Why?"

"So you can open them when you're off the ground," Bonnie says. "The effect will be better that way."

"Trying to impress me, Bonnie?"

"I've already impressed you plenty," she says. "I'm just in it for the theatrics. Keep your eyes open if you want to."

He closes them.

She adjusts his body with her hands. Puts his legs together. Folds his arms on top of his chest.

Tyler isn't aware of himself rising. He may be. He may not. All he knows is his body is stiff and he can't move. He keeps his eyes closed like Bonnie said.

"Okay," she says. It feels like forever has passed. "Open."

He does.

When he turns his head toward her, he sees that his body is level with her face. She's smiling and her eyes seem brighter. She looks younger. It's then that he realizes how old they all are now even though only a year has passed since all of this began. He knows he's aged, too. It takes Tyler a moment to start laughing. He peeks down at the floor, a couple feet below him.

"Impressed?" she says.

"Maybe. How high can you make me go?"

"How high do you want to go?"

"Higher."

Bonnie obliges. He keeps his eyes open during the ascent. He's face to face with one of the Spice Girls when he stops rising. "Now I'm impressed."

"This looks productive."

Jeremy's somewhere down there. Tyler turns his head. He's standing in the doorway with his hands in his pockets. Tyler can't make out any obvious weapons.

"Come to kill me, Gilbert?"

Jeremy sighs. "No. I told you guys it's fine." He steps further into the room and stands next to Bonnie who is on her feet now. They both look at up Tyler. "Weren't we supposed to be doing something? Like figuring out how to kill Damon?"

"Relax. We're just having some fun."

"Do you want to try it?" Bonnie's asking Jeremy. For a minute, Tyler thinks he may refuse. Maybe hunters don't have fun but Jeremy says yes.

"Can you do us both at the same time?" Tyler asks. He doesn't want to come down yet.

Bonnie lets out an exaggerated sigh but Tyler can tell she wants to. He wonders when the last time was she got to just show her magic off. Probably with the professor but Caroline has only talked about seeing Bonnie do recreational magic once or twice. The rest of the time it's all business. Bonnie instructs Jeremy to lay down on the other side of the room, on the other side of her bed. She adjusts him too and then she gets comfortable on her bed. "Ready, Jeremy?"

"Yeah."

"Close your eyes," Tyler says.

"Why?"

"For the effect."

He doesn't know if Jeremy's listened but he watches as Jeremy rises over Bonnie's bed. She's not looking at either of them. Her eyes are closed and there's the ghost of a smile on her lips. When Jeremy's level with Tyler, Bonnie tells him to open his eyes. She's still not looking.

"Whoa."

Bonnie moves them around a little bit. She goes slow but Tyler and Jeremy both cross over her head to hover on opposite sides of the room.

When she puts them down, they're all laughing.

But Bonnie's face straightens first. "Now we have to get to work."

* * *

**There's a reason why Jeremy isn't trying to kill Tyler. **

**So if you've seen _The Craft_ (If you haven't you should because it's a fantastic witch movie!) that was the inspiration for this scene with Bonnie, Tyler and Jeremy. The next update is in the works. For those of you wondering, Tyler's new role as alpha will be coming into play soon. There's also going to be a holiday themed chapter after the next one and I will tell you that one half of Tonnie gives a very nice gift to the other. **

**Also, (SPOILER FOR UPCOMING EPISODE): **

**There's a death coming on the show (a character we've known since season 1) and if it's Tyler I will rage. I doubt it'll be Bonnie because then what will anyone do about living? If it's Jeremy I don't even know what I'll do with myself because then all hope of Beremy will be as dead as him. I've got my fingers crossed for Matt actually but you know, that's unlikely. Still a girl can dream. I feel kinda bad thinking this but I'm hoping it's some random parent we see every ninth episode which would leave us with either Tyler's mom or Caroline's. **

**Thank you for reading and extra special thank you for those who review because you're all lovely :)**


	13. Work

Work

"Can we make it last hours?" Jeremy asks.

They're still in Bonnie's room. Her bed has never seemed so small. It's king sized but with Tyler and Jeremy both on it, it feels more like a twin. They're both so big and Jeremy's arms take up an incredible amount of space not to mention the fact that he's sprawled across the mattress like he's her boyfriend all over again. Bonnie would expect Tyler to make himself equally comfortable if not for the fact it's hard enough to fit them both on it as is.

"How about a week?" Tyler says.

"That sounds perfect," Jeremy says. "How?"

"I'll bite him," Tyler says.

"I thought we agreed to do this as soon as possible," Bonnie says. "Remember? To break the sire bond?"

Jeremy and Tyler both look at her but Tyler's the one that speaks. "We decided killing him would _help_ with the bond but we were gonna kill him before we found out about it so let's not pretend we're being noble here. I mean, we are. This is a public service. We're just not _that_ noble."

"And it's Damon," Jeremy says. "Stefan can go quickly. But Damon can't. If one of them is gonna suffer, it's gonna be him."

Bonnie remembers seeing Damon, hung up and ripped open by Rebekah, Klaus in her ear. _Save the man who turned your mother into a vampire._

The man who killed Jeremy once, killed Hayley, killed Grams.

Elena's happy. She's _happy_ being sired to Damon. Maybe that'll change once she knows the truth.

"Okay," she agrees. "Once you've bitten him we have to hide him somewhere."

"Any ideas?"

"The tomb," Bonnie answers. "I can do the spell to trap him inside."

"Then we just let him die in there?" Tyler says.

"No, I'll stake him," Jeremy says. "After a couple days of him losing his mind."

"Why do _you_ get to stake him?"

Bonnie wants to know that to.

"If you're serious about looking for a cure," Jeremy says, "my mark can lead you to it. Or something like that. The only way it grows is if I kill vampires. If I stake him, it grows. And we get closer to the cure."

"If it exists," Bonnie says. She makes a mental note to make Jeremy tell her everything he knows about it. She still can't think up a way to approach Stefan about it and any information would be helpful. "I'm fine with that. But we need to get Damon away from his house and from Elena."

"That's easy enough," Tyler says. He suggests that Jeremy ask to talk with his sister, alone. They do it at the Grill and Damon won't think Elena's in too much danger if they're in public. And she'll ask him to go if Jeremy wants it. Tyler and Bonnie just have to get him outside and put him down long enough to get him to the tomb.

Bonnie can handle most of that on her own but Tyler won't be left out of a minute of it.

"That means you can't hurt Elena," Bonnie reminds Jeremy. "We'll have to work on that."

"I can deal with Elena," Jeremy says. "If it means we're killing Damon, I can do it. I'm sitting here with Tyler, aren't I?"

Bonnie and Tyler exchange a look. She expects him to back her up but he shrugs. "That's true. He's fine. We're barely four feet apart and he hasn't tried anything."

Even though they're satisfied, she can't get the image of Jeremy putting that stake through Elena's ribcage this morning. If he'd been more focused, maybe more experienced, he _would_ have killed her. And if he loses control again...he goes down and all their plans go with him.

"We'll work on it," she repeats.

* * *

Bonnie walks Tyler out. Jeremy is in the kitchen "making dinner" which seems to equate to microwaving some of Bonnie's leftover takeout and he's lost interest in both of them. "You know," he says, "if we kill Damon, Stefan's going to go on that rampage we talked about."

"Yeah," she agrees. "But between the three of us, I think we can handle Stefan. And if he goes Ripper again, Elena and Caroline will step in, too."

"Not to mention how justified we'll be if he ends up with a stake in his heart," Tyler adds. He wiggles his eyebrows and Bonnie smiles.

He's more comfortable with her now. Not much time has passed since they decided to do this but he thinks he's learned a lot about her since. Just last night they were trying to kill Stefan and Jeremy had nothing to do with it. Now Damon's their target and Jeremy's going to be the one to do the staking. Now Bonnie's not Bonnie, Caroline's friend. Or Bonnie, the girl who he's known since childhood without really knowing. Now she's Bonnie, his partner in crime and she's got a magically grown flower in her room, has a crush on a professor that goes to frat parties and refuses to admit whether or not she slept with Jeremy Gilbert. Tyler decides that the moment she answers that question, it'll mean they're actually something like friends.

"Not to mention that."

Jeremy drops something in the kitchen.

"Gonna put a spell on him?" Tyler asks.

"No but there are some things I can try," Bonnie says, "to help him find clarity. And hopefully it'll help him see past whatever it is that makes him want to kill his own sister. I mean he doesn't mind being with you. Obviously something about you is different from Elena."

"Hopefully a lot of things."

If he'd said it differently, with more of a lilt, perhaps a smile, Bonnie would have taken it as a joke. Oh no, he's not like Elena. He's Tyler. He's a guy, he's a hybrid. He doesn't have the long straight hair or the big doe eyes. Of course he's not _like_ Elena. But it's not a joke and when he sees Bonnie's face, he sighs. She's annoyed with him.

They're not _that_ friendly.

"I'm sorry."

She nods her head. "I'll work with Jeremy tonight."

"How are you gonna test it out?"

"I don't know yet," she admits, "but I'll think of something. What are your plans?"

"I have some hybrid stuff to deal with."

"Hybrid _stuff_?"

"You know how I was helping them break their sire bonds?"

She nods.

"After what happened to Hayley, I kind of stopped. And Kim, a hybrid we helped, took over. She's planning something. I don't know what it is but it can't be good."

"Something like…?"

"Going after Klaus."

"But if Klaus dies then…all of you die."

"Believe me, I'm aware. But Kim knew a witch. Who may be able to do the spell you did on me and Klaus."

"Put Klaus in someone else's body?"

"Yeah."

"Then what?" Bonnie questions. "And whose body is he going in?" She's getting frustrated. It's how Tyler feels. Klaus is risky. He's always been a risky target. The closest they ever came to being rid of him forever was when he was in Tyler's body. And that didn't work for long either. He can't imagine it going any better the second time around.

"I don't know."

"Do you want my help?"

"No," he says quickly.

She looks a little disappointed.

"Not that I don't think you'd be helpful," he adds. "It's just...I roped you into one dangerous situation. And this one is kind of hybrid specific anyway."

He's the one who pushed the hybrids to break their sire bonds. If Kim's going to be risking their lives sometime soon, he has to handle it. And they won't take too kindly to a witch becoming involved. They're a pack, even now that they're dead. None of them will respond well to Tyler bringing Bonnie in.

"Okay," she says. "But if you do need help, you can ask. If you need my help, I'll help you."

Even though Bonnie can't help him, it's nice she offered.

* * *

Bonnie watches Tyler go. His car peels away from the curb and his taillights round the corner. She thinks he can probably handle the hybrids. Or at least she hopes he can. But if it's him versus all of them, he's at a serious disadvantage. When she joins Jeremy in the kitchen, he's halfway done with a carton of Chinese food.

"I'm ready when you are," he says. "To _work on it_, like you said."

"Finish eating first," she says, sitting down across from him. "I actually wanted to ask you more about the cure. What did Stefan tell you about it?"

"That is exists," Jeremy says, "and my mark will lead us to it. Or something."

"When did he tell you about it?"

"A few weeks ago."

"And you hadn't killed anything since? Until Katherine."

"Just the hybrid. Chris." He sighs heavily and sticks his fork into the rice to push it around.

"Give me your arm."

Jeremy extends his arm to her and she runs her hands along the dark, curved lines. To someone else it might appear like nothing much but she can see magic in it. There's a message there. It's just a matter of reading it.

"It has to be completed first," Jeremy says. "So I have to kill vampires."

"Good thing you're the one staking Damon then," Bonnie says, letting go of him. He doesn't move his arm even after she's stood up to pour herself a glass of water. When she sits back down, his palm is still extended out to where she sits down. She supposes he must want her to touch him again but she's not going to go there no matter how big his arms are or how good he looks with that tattoo.

Instead she speaks, "We have to get you to a point where you can be with Elena without wanting to kill her. For now you don't have to stop wanting to hurt her. you just have to-"

"Not hurt her."

"Right." The bare minimum/. "I mean, you were fine with Tyler today. So the mark didn't make you want to hurt him. I can try something. It'll test you and get you comfortable with Elena again."

"Then let's try it," he says.

She makes him lie down on the couch, only to make sure he's comfortable. "We're going back to this morning," she explains. "Everything will be exactly the same. Just try not to kill Elena."

"Easy."

"Prove it."

Everything is exactly the same. Bonnie and Elena, except now Bonnie is aware of what's coming. Or what may come. Elena says the same things, Bonnie listens. When Jeremy comes through the door, it's like he had less control than he did earlier. He doesn't even give Elena a chance to speak to him before he's staking her. Like Bonnie fears, he doesn't miss the heart.

Bonnie releases him. They're back in her living room with Jeremy looking up at her. "That could have gone better."

She frowns. "It could have."

"Do it again."

This time Elena gets to talk for awhile. Jeremy _is_ trying. He holds the stake in a tightly coiled fist, practically glued to his side. But he still shoves the stake through Elena's heart.

He does the same the next two times.

"We'll try again in the morning," she says.

"And for now?"

"I can make you tea," she says. "For clarity."

"You want to make me…tea?"

"If you have a better idea, do share."

"I'll take the tea."

When she gives it to him, he swallows it down and screws up his face in disgust. "Clarity tastes like shit."

Bonnie shrugs.

"Will this work?" he asks.

"Maybe." It's just tea after all. But it's helped her so maybe it'll do the same for him. "Finish it."

Jeremy drinks and places the empty cup on the coffee table. "Thanks for letting me stay with you."

"You're welcome."

Two nights spent with Jeremy Gilbert. One at his house and another at hers. Her on his couch. And him on hers.

"Last night was fun," he says. "It was nice talking with you. But I forgot to tell you something."

"What?"

"I wanted to tell you how sorry I was. How sorry I am for what I did. For Anna."

Bonnie looks down at her hands, plays with one of her rings, and waits for him to go on. If he wants to go on. Maybe that's all there is to say.

"Bonnie," Jeremy says, "I still…I still…"

She's not ready to hear it. She thought she was. Jeremy choosing her, Jeremy wanting her, but she remembers hearing about Anna and Jeremy. From Caroline. She'd given up on an apology from him, too. The way she's done with Damon and Stefan.

Welcome to Mystic Falls where there's no apology necessary when it's Bonnie.

"I'm gonna go to bed," she says. "I'll see you in the morning."

Jeremy looks like he might protest but she's already going upstairs.

* * *

Caroline comes over the next morning. It's first thing and Bonnie's sleeping so hard Jeremy has to come and wake her. "I didn't try to stake her or anything," he mumbles before disappearing into the bathroom.

Caroline is standing at the base of the stairs with her hands on her hips. "Finally," she says. "It took you forever."

"Why are you here so _early_?"

"Damon told Elena she's sired," Caroline says. "Do you know what she said about that?"

"I don't know anything. I just woke up."

Caroline follows Bonnie into the kitchen and watches as she starts making coffee, sprinkling some of Shane's herbs into it.

"She said she doesn't care!"

"She said _what_?"

"She said no biggie. It's _totally_ fine that Damon is the master of all that is Elena because, you know, autonomy! Who needs it?"

"Are you sure she said that?"

"Well she didn't say those exact words," Caroline says. "But she said she doesn't care she's sired. Because apparently sire bonds don't affect _feelings. _And she thinks she's falling in love with Damon." Her voice is dripping with scorn. "I just want to throw up."

"Please don't. Jeremy's in the bathroom and if you make a mess, you're cleaning it up."

"I can't believe you're letting him stay here. And I can't believe you're not freaking out."

"Caroline, it's not even eight yet. Give me a minute."

"I'm counting."

She might actually be counting as Bonnie pours her coffee into a mug and takes a long drink. When she sits down at the table, Caroline hurries to join her and looks at Bonnie expectantly.

"Are you ready?" she asks.

Bonnie nods.

"Okay. Go."

"She's sired. He doesn't want her to care."

"You sound very calm about that."

"It's been a minute not an hour," she says. "Did _you_ talk to her? Or did Stefan talk to her?"

"Stefan did," Caroline said. "I'm _not_ talking to Elena."

"Why not?"

"Well, I didn't get around to telling you yesterday because we were occupied but we had a little disagreement."

"Uh oh."

"Yeah. Do you know what she said?"

"I don't."

"She said that if Damon is so awful then what was it about him that made _me_ jump into bed with him when I met him?"

Bonnie puts down her coffee. That sounds less like Elena and more like Damon. And Caroline sounds pissed. "What did you say?"

"I told her to go screw herself."

"You did?"

"No," Caroline sighs, "but I thought it. I can't believe she said that! Can you believe she said that?"

"I'd believe Damon said that. She's sired."

"So she gets a free ticket to Bitchville?"

Bonnie nods. "First class. So you're not going to Elena's Christmas thing?"

"Of course not. Stefan's not going either. I think he's finally going to let her go now that she's A-okay being sired to that _dick_."

Since when does Caroline say dick?

"Care, we have to go."

"Excuse me?"

"We can't just leave her to celebrate Christmas with _Damon."_

_"_That's what she wants," Caroline says. "So I say we give it to her. It's not like I want to spend my Christmas with Damon. And neither do you. We're both better off sitting here with Tyler and Jeremy than watching Elena please her _sire_."

Bonnie blinks at her and waits for her to change her mind.

"Fine," Caroline says. "Tyler's not going to want to come. He's having trouble _liking_ Elena."

"He's not the only one," Bonnie says. "At least he hasn't tried to kill her."

Caroline laughs. "Yet. Are you sure Jeremy's having killing urges? He barely blinked when he let me in."

"He's very selective with those urges apparently."

"So he could come to Elena's then? Or...to his house, I mean."

"By selective I mean he's reserved them for Elena," Bonnie says. "So no, he can't come."

"He seems fine to me."

"Tell that to Elena and the stake he tried to kill her with."

"So you're going to leave him here while we go to Elena's? By himself?"

"He's not a toddler," Bonnie says. "He can stay here alone. Besides, I'm going to have to find somewhere else to put him. My dad's coming back for Christmas. He's not gonna let Jeremy stay here." Her dad knew they dated though Bonnie can't remember if she told him they broke up. Either way, she can picture her dad's disapproval when he sees Jeremy living on their couch. Hopefully she'll figure something out before her dad returns to town.

"So where's he gonna go?"

"Matt might let him stay with him," Bonnie says. "It's only for a couple of days. Until my dad leaves again." Jeremy's non-vampire options are very limited.

"Tyler said he came over here yesterday to check on him. Since he came back in one piece, I assume Jeremy didn't find his presence so provocative."

"Like I said, he's being selective. But we're working on it."

If she could get Jeremy to a better place, one where he didn't need to see Elena dead, he could come with them. And if Bonnie's going to be there with Elena, Damon, Caroline and Tyler, she's going to need him there. Awkward conversation last night aside, him and Caroline will be the only people there capable of talking to her freely. Elena's basically Damon's (second) mouthpiece, Damon's an asshole, and Bonnie and Tyler are only supposed to be polite acquaintances with absolutely nothing in common.

She'll get Jeremy on track.

* * *

**Next chapter is the holiday one and Elena's little party thing. Prepare yourselves for Tonnie gift giving. I'll have it up tomorrow. Possibly later tonight if I don't get distracted but by tomorrow for sure. **

**As far as (SPOILER from 409) Carol dying - I called it, by the way, I don't know if I want to incorporate that in just yet. Seems like Tyler's being shit on a lot in show lately. Well, actually all three of them get shit on so. **

**As always thank you for reading and reviewing!**


	14. O Bloody Night

**Here is the holiday chapter! It's a long one. Almost double the usual word count. I was going to split it into two parts when I realized it was getting so long but I figured I'd keep it all together so you'd get to read it all at once. **

* * *

O Bloody Night

In the next few days, Bonnie works with Jeremy. She uses different scenarios. Elena at the Grill, in the square, at the Salvatore place, in Bonnie's house. At first it went just like before. Each time Elena got a stake to the heart. But it starts taking longer for Jeremy to lose his temper. He can hold off on it. Bonnie makes Elena say all the things Jeremy hates. Damon's changed, she loves him, she's happy.

Eventually Jeremy stops reacting. He starts just looking tired and he stops going for the stake.

When he comes out of it, after another run at it, where he stares at Elena like she's invisible, he gulps down water.

"So, do I get to leave the house now?" he asks. "Do I get to go back to _my_ house now?"

"Sure. If you want to stay there with Elena."

"I don't."

They don't talk about what he said the other night and whatever it is he _still_ feels.

"My dad's coming back," Bonnie says. "You can't stay here. He'll freak."

"So where am I going?"

"Matt's?"

"No."

"Well, it's not like there are a lot of non-vampires in town, Jeremy."

"I'll ask Tyler," Jeremy says.

"He has a house full of hybrids."

"They aren't in any danger from me. It'll be fine. I promise."

* * *

Tyler shows up at Bonnie's the day before Christmas Eve just as its getting dark, a metallic gift bag in hand. Her dad will be back tomorrow (from some kind of business trip ) and Tyler's on Jeremy duty. He doesn't know how he got picked for this particular task, when his house is the home of more than a dozen hybrids. But Jeremy hasn't tried anything with him and he's been over to Bonnie's daily since Jeremy moved in, and according to Caroline, he didn't have a reaction to her when she stopped by either.

He's beginning to think this hunter business isn't all they've been told.

Bonnie answers the door. "Hey," she says, stepping aside so he can come in. She looks tinier than usual in a giant sweater and furry boots, her hair pulled up into a messy bun. "Jeremy! Tyler's here!"

It feels like they're a divorced couple trading their kid for the holidays.

"What time's your dad getting in?"

Bonnie shrugs her shoulders. "He didn't specify but he'll be here by Christmas Day. I figure the sooner Jeremy's out the better. If he tries anything, call me."

"Nothing's going to happen," Jeremy says as he comes down the stairs with his bag slung over his shoulder. He's only going to be at Tyler's for a couple days, just until Bonnie's dad goes off again (apparently he does that a lot), but Tyler figures if it goes well there's no reason Jeremy can't stay at the manor, too. At least he'd have his own room there but he suspects his offer would be refused. Couch or not, it's _Bonnie's _couch. Jeremy would sleep on her floor, under her bed if she wanted.

"So apparently I'm required to attend a party at Elena's house," he says. "You know anything about that?"

"I know I'm going. And so is Jeremy."

"Don't worry, Tyler. I don't want to go either," Jeremy says.

"So _why_ are we going?"

"Because Elena needs to know that she has options other than Damon," Bonnie says. "It's bad enough she's sired to him. She still needs to know that she has people who love her other than him."

She expects Tyler to say something like _Then why do I have to be there_? But he doesn't. She's relieved.

"Fine, whatever," he says instead. "I got you something. As a thank you." He holds out the bag.

"For?"

"Agreeing to do this with me. Some people would call it a suicide mission."

Bonnie takes the bag and she moves to look inside but Jeremy speaks. "Did you get _me_ anything?"

"You're staying at my house," Tyler says. "Merry Christmas. And you approached us about getting in on this. You should be giving us presents."

"I gave Bonnie a present," Jeremy says with a shrug.

"Yeah? Where's mine?"

"I'm staying at your house. Merry Christmas."

With that, he goes out the door, lugging his bag with him. It looks so heavy Tyler knows it's not just clothes in there. He wants to know why Jeremy would need _all _of his hunter gear but it's probably better he take it than have Bonnie's dad stumble across it while he's home.

"What did he give you?" Tyler asks.

"I don't know," she says. "He won't let me look at it until he leaves. He said he was going to leave it in my room and I could look once you guys go. I guess he's embarrassed." She looks down at the bag again and shifts her weight awkwardly. "I didn't get you anything."

"That's okay. I thought you could use it so... You gonna open it?"

"Oh...yeah."

Bonnie pulls the book from the pile of tissue paper. It's cover is made of rich, black leather and the thick pages are the color of parchment.

"It's for your spells," he explains. "You know, so you can have a real grimoire. I figured you could use a better one that's not your history notebook. So now you can actually put history in your history notebook."

She opens it up, runs her hands along the blank pages. "Making sure I stay on top of my studies?"

"Hey, the recommendation letter the professor's gonna write you may not be enough to get you into college."

"Thank you," she says. "I'll start writing in it tonight."

She reaches out to hug him and they maneuver awkwardly into an embrace. She's smaller than he originally thought and he's just not used to hugging her. When she pulls away, she smiles a little.

"How's the thing with Kim?" she asks.

Kim.

"I'm going to deal with it soon."

"What does that mean? Deal with it how?"

"Hayley used to talk about the Alpha of the pack," Tyler says. "You have to challenge the Alpha for authority."

"Kim's the Alpha?"

"She will be," Tyler says. "Unless I do something about it."

"Like kill her?"

"Not necessarily," he says. He doesn't want to kill Kim, who is like him. She broke her bond the same way he did. Now she just wants to see something come from it. Klaus may not have power over their minds anymore but he still controls what they do. As long as Klaus is around, they'll never be free. But if they're dead, they're not free either. And he knows Kim will get them all killed. Tyler won't let that happen. Enough of them have died because of Klaus.

"Well, be careful," Bonnie says.

"I will."

"I'm ready when you are," Jeremy says when he comes back in.

"I'm ready."

Jeremy hugs Bonnie goodbye. They go together more smoothly than Tyler and Bonnie did. He doesn't understand why Jeremy's acting like he's never going to see her again when he'll be right back on her couch after Christmas. But then he figures it's just an excuse to touch Bonnie.

"I left it on your bed," Jeremy says. He must mean her gift.

As they go out the door, Tyler looks back at her. She holds her book in her hands, the bag dangles from her wrist. He wonders if she'll miss Jeremy being there. "We'll see you at Elena's."

* * *

Bonnie finds Jeremy's gift just where he left it. It's a drawing. She hasn't seen him draw since he's been there but there it is. It's her. At first she doesn't realize but it's the day the dead witches gave her their power. The day she manipulated the weather and felt all of nature, all of life, coursing through her with Jeremy at her side. Her eyes are closed, her hair is flying out around her and leaves circle around her in a whirlwind. There she is, in shades of gray, made of pencil.

But alive.

It's beautiful.

She puts it in the pages of her new grimoire.

* * *

The woods are dark. They're always dark but tonight it's a different kind of darkness. There's death.

Bonnie walks through, her footsteps on the crunching leaves the only sound she can hear. She's not far from the Lockwood cellar. If she bends her steps west and keeps walking, she'll reach it in no time. But that's not what she's looking for.

She's not sure what she's looking for until she finds it.

The heart.

It's lying among a pile of dirt and leaves, bloody and small and no longer beating.

She doesn't recoil from it. Instead she squats down and takes it in her hand. She holds it gently, like it's something precious. Something still alive. She stands upright and starts walking again.

She meets Tyler in minutes. He's leaning against a tree with a ragged, bloody tear in his shirt and a gaping black hole in his chest. She thinks she can see straight through it but it's so dark she can't say for sure.

"Can't be an Alpha without a heart," he says.

Bonnie tilts her head to the side. "What?"

"Let's go for a drink, Bennett."

"_What_?"

_"_Meet us at Radley's," he says.

Bonnie has never gone there before. It's not exactly the kind of place teenagers go. Not even ones with fake I.D.s. It's a dive and not a fun one.

"Who's us?"

"Me and my heart."

* * *

Bonnie calls Tyler. It's the middle of the night. He might be with Caroline. But she calls.

It takes a long time for him to answer.

"Bonnie?" he says groggily. "What's wrong? You okay?"

"Are _you_ okay?"

"I was sleeping," Tyler says. Apparently that's an answer. "I'm fine. Why?"

"I just..." She doesn't want to worry him, just in case. She hasn't dreamed like that in awhile but she knows to take them seriously. Tyler may be fine tonight but he's not going to be for long. "I was just checking on you."

"Why?"

"I just had a bad feeling," she says, "but it's okay. I'll see you."

"Bonnie," he says. She hears him moving on the other end. "What kind of bad feeling?"

"I just wanted to make sure everything's okay with you guys. How's Jeremy?"

"He's okay, I guess. Do you want to talk to him?"

"No. You don't have to do that. It's fine."

"I can wake him," Tyler says. "He won't mind if it's you."

"No, that's okay," she says quickly. "Just tell me if you've ever been to Radley's."

"The bar? That place is shit," he says. "Why would I go there?"

_Because apparently your heart is there._

"I don't know," she sighs. "I'll see you later."

"You're weird, Bennett," he says. "See you."

When he hangs up, Bonnie gets out of bed. She dresses quickly and gets into her car. Town is dead. There's no one out. Radley's is past the square. It's tiny with blacked out windows and a flickering neon sign. Bad music floats out the door. She goes in and is immediately overwhelmed with the smell of smoke, alcohol and sweat. It's stifling in there even though it's chilly outside. The clientele are all older, with longish hair and ragged clothes. She'd think they were homeless if not for the steady stream of cash being exchanged for bottles of beer.

She feels stupid being there. She's obviously young but she doubts anyone will question her presence unless she tries to buy a drink. And it doesn't look like the kind of place that has glasses she wants to drink out of. She sits down at a tiny table in the corner and looks around though she doesn't know what she expects to find.

It's not like there's a sign.

Or maybe there is. She's a witch. Her magic guides her. That's why she's here. Because it brought her. There's something there for her. And it's probably right in front of her.

The seat she's chosen is right next to another man. He's tall and broad shouldered, wearing a plaid shirt and jeans. He's gulping down his beer like it's water.

Bonnie turns toward him. "Hey."

He turns his head toward her. Arches an eyebrow. "Hey."

"I'm Abby," she says, extending her hand. One touch. That's all she needs. She prepares for it. With vampires, with supernaturals, it's instantaneous. With humans she has to push it. There's a part of her that questions whether this guy is human at all. But when he shakes her hand, she gets her confirmation. He's human.

The flashes she gets are rapid but enlightening.

He was in prison. For murder. She can see the faces of his victims. They were bright eyed, beautiful young women. They're dead now. She sees spilled blood. Death still clings to him. He served his time but he has more to pay for.

And she knows why she's here.

Bonnie says nothing more as she stands and walks away. He looks confused but isn't confused enough to ignore his beer. Before she goes, she snaps a picture of him with her phone. For future reference.

She goes back to her house first and goes through her jewelry box. Everything in it is wildly feminine and Tyler would never wear any of it. Eventually she finds a bracelet. It's woven with tiny shells on it. She has no idea where she got it from but it'll work. After flipping through the grimoires for the right spell, she gets back into her car and goes to the bridge. She ignores the water tonight and goes into the trees, near the spot where they burned Katherine.

The incantation is long but she's gotten good at pronouncing the words. When she's done, she holds the bracelet in the palm of her hand and stands. She avoids looking at the dead earth she leaves behind.

* * *

In the morning Bonnie's dad arrives. He hugs her and kisses her forehead when he sees her. "How are you?" he asks. "The house looks good."

He says that every time he comes back, like he expected her to reduce the house to rubble in the time he's been gone.

"How are your friends?" he asks.

"They're alive," she says.

"So...good?"

"Yeah, Dad. They're good. I'm going to Elena's tomorrow night."

"Oh? I thought we might do something tomorrow."

They've always called Christmas quits early in the day so this is new.

"Like what?"

He shrugs. "I don't know. I want to spend time with you while I'm here. I'm sorry I can't stay longer."

"It's okay. I can do anything early in the day but I have to be at Elena's at seven."

"Then we'll make it work."

Making it work translates into exchanging presents in the morning. They do it right after breakfast that Bonnie's dad makes. Omelets. He remembers what she likes in hers. That makes her smile. She gave him a new tie. He loves ties. He gave her a pair of earrings. Diamond studs that she puts in as soon as he gives them to her. They hug and sit down to watch Christmas movies.

Bonnie gets to Elena's right on time. The house is decked out in Christmas decorations. There are lights everywhere. The tree is up in the corner and there are a few presents beneath it. Bonnie wonders who they're for. Caroline arrives with Tyler and Jeremy in tow. Bonnie had told Elena Jeremy was coming and assured her Jeremy was under control. That he _wanted_ to come. The last part is a lie but Jeremy rolls with it anyway. He smiles at Elena when she comes up to him and even hugs her. He doesn't try anything.

Bonnie smiles to herself. It'll be easy to get Damon to leave Jeremy and Elena alone now.

Elena pulls Caroline to the side. Bonnie can hear the beginnings of Elena's apology. While they're distracted, she sends Tyler a text message telling him to meet her outside.

"What's up?" he says.

"I have something for you." She pulls the bracelet from her pocket and grabs his wrist to fasten it.

"Uh...thanks," he says, blinking down at it. "You know, you really _didn't_ have to get me anything."

"It's for protection," she says. "Don't take it off."

"Protection from what?"

"Just keep it," she says. "Okay?"

Tyler touches one of the shells, still confused. "Okay. Is this about the other night? That feeling you got?"

"It's just a precaution," she says. "For when you deal with Kim. I know it's kind of ugly."

"No it's nice," he says. She knows he's lying. "Thank you."

* * *

Back in the house Elena is giving out presents. Caroline and Jeremy are sitting on the couch and Elena is working overtime to please them both. It's like she's sired to _them_. As far as Caroline's concerned, Elena is doing exactly what she should be doing. Caroline was still angry about what Elena said when they left his house and she kept going on and on about how she was only coming because Bonnie wanted her to. Jeremy doesn't look like he cares either way. Elena shoves presents into both of their hands. When Tyler comes back in, she hands him one, too.

"Merry Christmas," she says.

"Thanks."

"Where's Bonnie?"

"She's outside," Tyler answers. "She's coming in."

"Matt should be here soon," Elena says. "He's bringing April with him."

Tyler doesn't know what he's supposed to do with that information. He joins Caroline and Jeremy on the couch. Caroline is the only one who has opened her gift, a pair of gold hoop earrings that she puts on immediately.

Bonnie comes in at the same time as Matt and April Young.

The only one missing is Stefan. Who won't be coming. Caroline's bitter about that.

Elena passes all three of them presents and they all sit down.

"Open them," she says.

Tyler and Jeremy exchange a look as they open them. Jeremy gets art supplies. Tyler gets gloves.

"Thanks," he says.

After that Elena says they can eat. Her and Damon cooked all day apparently. They're all trying to pretend Damon isn't there. Caroline for one doesn't acknowledge him at all, not even when he's standing right next to her and she's putting food on her plate. Bonnie is the last one to grab her food. She seems occupied with something, like she's not totally there with them.

"You did good, witchy," Damon says. "Jeremy hasn't tried to kill anyone here."

Caroline's head snaps in their direction. Tyler's already looking. Jeremy isn't looking but Tyler can tell he's listening if the tension in his shoulders is any indication. Elena is busy with Matt and April.

"I said I was helping him," Bonnie snaps.

"I'm just surprised. You've been less than helpful lately. Glad to see the tides are turning."

"Damon," she sighs, "shut up."

They could kill him now if they really wanted. Forget the bite. Tyler could rip his heart out. Jeremy could drive a stake through him. Bonnie could light him up like that Christmas tree. No matter the scenario, Damon would be dead. And he wouldn't be talking anymore.

Tyler can't believe they let him talk to her that way. That they let Damon talk at all.

"Don't mind me, witchy," Damon says. "It was a compliment. Hopefully your good streak will stay."

Jeremy stands from the couch. They barely look at him. He goes around Bonnie and Damon to counter. He starts going through the drawers.

"Hopefully," Bonnie says. "For your sake."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"It means shut the hell up," Jeremy says right before he shoves the shining blade of a butcher knife into Damon's throat.

* * *

Elena makes them all leave.

Caroline is tasked with compelling April and Matt takes her home right after. Elena is cleaning up the blood, spattered all over the kitchen counter and the floor. Damon healed within moments after he pulled the knife from his neck.

"I don't know about you guys," Jeremy says, where they stand outside the house, "but I had a good time."

Bonnie disapproves, Tyler can see that. Maybe it was stupid but seeing Damon bleed, his blood pouring from his neck like water, choking on it, was satisfying.

"Come on, Bonnie," he says. "Cut him a break. It was a better gift than these gloves." He passes them to Jeremy who takes them with a shrug.

That makes her smile a little.

Welcome to Mystic Falls, where stabbing a Salvatore in the neck is a fun time.

* * *

After all the excitement, Tyler feels energized. And with Bonnie's bracelet on his wrist he figures there's no better time to confront Kim. He meets her and the other hybrids in the cellar. When she was breaking her bond, she was relentless. Not so much like the others. They all want to do it when they realize the scope of the control Klaus has. But the pain is so intense, so constant, plenty talk about backing out. Kim never did. She was going to own the pain and make it her own so she could belong to herself again. He'd admired that about her.

"Well look what the cat dragged in," she says. "You've been scarce, _Ty_." She says his name like it's something poisonous.

The other hybrids line the walls. None of them speak. Kim speaks for them. She's not the Alpha. Not officially, not yet. But she will be.

"I've been busy."

"So have we."

"Doing what?"

"Fighting for our freedom. We have a way to get rid of Klaus. One that will keep all of us alive." She steps toward him. She's only slightly shorter than he is and she's strong. He knows she's strong. If they have to fight, it'll be a real one. Absentmindedly, he touches Bonnie's bracelet.

_Protection_.

"The body jumping spell," he says. "I've heard."

"And you disapprove?"

"Whose body are you trying to put him in? And what happens once he's in there?"

"We bury him."

"Like I said, _whose_ body are you going to put him in?"

Kim falters. None of the hybrids would agree to it. Why would they sacrifice their bodies for this? Tyler did it once and he doesn't want to do it again. And then he at least got to stay mobile and above ground. They would be more dead than Klaus.

"We're working on it," she says. "Which is more than I can say for you. While you're off mourning for your other girlfriend, we're still here. Our minds are free and we're very aware that our bodies aren't. If you won't free us like you promised, we'll do it ourselves."

"There's a better way," Tyler says.

"Would you like to share with the class?"

He wants to tell her about the cure. Maybe they don't need it for themselves. Maybe it's Klaus that needs it. It may sever the line. And he can be killed just like any human could. And they'll be alive.

"You have to trust me," he says. "There's another way. One that won't condemn anyone to a life in the ground. And if you fail, Klaus will kill all of you."

"Klaus will kill us no matter what we do," Kim says. "Sooner or later. We're not safe here."

"But I can protect you," he says. "Trust me. I can kill Klaus. _Really_ kill him."

"When?"

"When I can do it with as few of us dying as possible," Tyler says. "I _promise_ I can do this. Things are happening here and you don't know all about them but I can do this better than you."

"You _left_ us!"

"I know." Hayley would have been disappointed to hear that. "But I won't do that again."

"I don't believe you. And I don't believe that you have any way of killing Klaus."

"I'm not going to let you do this."

"I didn't ask for your permission."

There's no space between them.

Tyler looks at the others. They stare back at him, bodies coiled. But none of them will intervene. It comes down to Tyler and Kim. "You'll let her risk your lives? Put one of you in the ground with Klaus inside you? You want _that_?"

"It's better than being here."

When she lunges for him, he's ready. She throws him down and they struggle, rolling across the floor. Reaching for each other's throats, eyes, hearts. To be the Alpha, he has to prove he is the Alpha.

He _is _the Alpha.

Kim throws him across the cellar and his body slams against the iron bars. They bend with the force but he doesn't even feel the pain. The Alpha is beyond pain. He has to be. Kim speeds toward him and Tyler reaches for her heart. His hand breaks through skin and bone to close around it. He feels it, pumping beneath his grip, hot to the touch.

Kim is frozen and her eyes don't leave his.

"I'm not going to kill you," he says. "We're _friends_. I want to help you. All of you. And I will. We'll kill Klaus. When the time is right, when no one has to be sacrificed to do it." When he looks back at Kim, she's still glaring at him. But his grip on her heart keeps her from trying anything.

"If you're with me on this, then I'll let you live. If you're not...then I won't."

Kim swallows.

"I'm with you."

"I'm the Alpha now. You submit or you die. Choose now."

"I submit," Kim says. "You're the Alpha."

Tyler releases her heart and withdraws his hand. Kim slips to the floor, shakily falling down on one knee. When he looks up the others are doing the same. They kneel in turn until he's the only one left standing. He's the Alpha. He catches a glimpse of Bonnie's bracelet on his wrist, damp and red with blood.

* * *

Bonnie's dad isn't there when she gets back. There's a note on the table. Apparently Sheriff Forbes invited him over to catch up. It's weird to think of her dad also having a life here when he so easily abandons it. She changes clothes and pulls on a pair of flannel pajamas. Someone rings her doorbell. She looks out the window.

Damon has been on her porch way too much.

"Can I help you?" she says. He's cleaned up now but she can still see the blood as it came flowing from his neck. The veins in Jeremy's arm tight as he plunged the blade into Damon's throat with ease. She thinks of the boys back at Elena's, how amusing they thought it was. She tries not to smile.

"I thought you said you helped him."

"I did. It wasn't Elena he stabbed was it?"

Damon glares at her. "If he'd had a stake."

"Lucky for you, he left it at home," Bonnie snaps. "You wanted me to keep Jeremy from going after Elena. Which I did. But I won't help him not want to kill _you__. _If there's anyone in this town he has every incentive to want dead, it's you."

"And when I kill him first?"

"You won't _touch_ him."

And he won't. Elena, sired or not, wouldn't recover from it. Or would she? The power he has over her now is hard to measure. But if Jeremy dies, they lose their path to the cure. But somehow the threat is enough to enrage her.

"Keep your boyfriend in line, Bonnie," Damon snaps. "Or I'll do it for you."

She inhales deeply. "Come in, Damon."

"Excuse me."

"I'm going to tell you exactly why you're not going to do a thing to Jeremy. _Come in_."

Bonnie steps away from the door. At first she doesn't think he'll follow her. But he's so intrigued by her invitation he steps over the threshold.

"So why am I leaving little Jeremy Gilbert alone?"

"Because I say so."

Damon clutches his head and screams. The aneurysms are fast and they keep coming. Longer than she's ever inflicted one before. If she should stop, she doesn't think of it. She doesn't care. She remembers the plan. The one she spent so much time with Jeremy and Tyler perfecting. She's just ruined phase one. But she doesn't care.

He deserves this.

When she's had enough, she touches him. And he falls unconscious.

Damon Salvatore, prone and vulnerable, lying in her living room. Her dad could be home at any moment. And Damon Salvatore is on her floor.

Welcome to Mystic Falls where despite all the shit that she's just ruined, it still feels good to see a Salvatore at her mercy.

* * *

**FYI: The gift I was referring to was Tyler's to Bonnie but hers to him still counts I guess though hers is, I suppose, less personal. Or more personal depending on how you want to look at it. **

**I'm thinking of giving Jeremy his own POV soon. I'm still going back and forth with it. **

**Thanks for reading and reviewing!**


	15. Phase One

**Technically this chapter takes place the same night as the last one. So it's still Christmas if you'd like to think of it as a continuation of the holiday theme. I think the chapters are going to become a bit longer than they've been previously as we progress. Around the word count of this one. Thank you for reading and reviewing. **

* * *

Phase One

Jeremy arrives soon after Bonnie's called him. He got there really fast considering he had to walk. From the way he's breathing, he must have run. The hunter in him must help with that. "Where is he?" he asks.

"In my room. I put him there in case my dad came back."

"Is he alive?"

"Yes," she says. Not that she didn't consider finishing it. She could have but without Tyler and Jeremy there, it didn't feel right. "He's out though. Where's Tyler?"

"He's dealing with hybrid stuff. I left him a message to meet us at the tomb."

Bonnie leads him upstairs to her bedroom. Damon is lying on the floor in a heap. Even after moments have passed, her body still hums with energy, with magic, with pure bliss at seeing Damon defenseless and for once _quiet_.

"I'm sorry I ruined the plan," she says as Jeremy hoists Damon over his shoulder.

"You didn't ruin anything."

"His car is outside," she reminds him. "I ruined it."

"I'll take care of it." He moves to go out the door.

"Wait."

"Yeah?"

"Thanks for my drawing," she says. "I love it." And she didn't even get him anything.

Jeremy smiles and looks down at his shoes shyly. "You're welcome."

He stands totally still as she leans forward to kiss his cheek. Strangely Damon lying over Jeremy's shoulder doesn't affect her at all.

"I'll take him outside," he says finally.

Bonnie holds up Damon's keys and cell phone. "We'll have to call Elena."

"And tell her what?"

"We won't tell her anything. He will."

Jeremy's brow furrows.

"Just take him out. We'll do it then."

After Jeremy gets Damon into the backseat of the car, he comes back in. Bonnie passes him the phone.

"I don't get it."

"For now, you're Damon," she says. "Tell Elena that you're going to find Stefan. Tell her it used to be your favorite holiday and that you can't end the night without seeing him."

"You want to use Stefan's name?"

"Stefan will say Damon never made it to him," Bonnie says, "which will be true. They'll realize he's missing later. But by then Damon will be dead so it won't matter. You'll speak with his voice."

Jeremy nods. He dials Elena and keeps his eyes on Bonnie the whole time. Elena must have answered because he falters slightly but Bonnie nods her head, urging him on.

"No, I'm not gonna go to Bonnie's after all," he says. It's strange to see Jeremy's lips moving but Damon's voice coming out. She really doesn't like it. Maybe because the last time she heard Damon's voice she couldn't fight the urge to inflict maximum amounts of pain on him. "I'm going to find Stefan….I have to see him today. Christmas used to be my favorite holiday and I can't finish the night without seeing him….I'll come by later, okay? Bye."

Bonnie takes the phone back and slips it into her back pocket. "You drive Damon's car. I'll take mine. We'll meet at the tomb and once Tyler gets there we can figure out what to do with the car."

"Got it."

"I have to get some supplies first."

Jeremy nods.

Bonnie throws candles into a bag, grabs her bottle of water from the river, a bowl to put it in. She's walking out to her car when Tyler calls.

"What's going on?" he asks. "Why are we going to the tomb?"

"Because I gave Damon a few aneurysms," she says. "And now he's unconscious so I moved up our timetable. Jeremy and I are on our way."

"I'll be there soon."

Tyler meets them there, as promised. The three of them stand around Damon's body, looking down at them with similar looks of satisfaction.

"What happened?" Tyler asks, nudging Damon's leg with his foot.

"He showed up at my house."

"What for?"

"He was pissed because I didn't suppress Jeremy's urge to kill Damon."

"That wasn't an urge. That was me being pissed."

"Did he hurt you?" Tyler questions.

"No." She sighs. "I'm really sorry, guys."

Tyler waves it off. "I'm not mad."

"What's there to be mad about?" Jeremy says. "This is what we wanted. Now we got it. So bite him."

"Wait," Bonnie says, before Tyler can move. He looks ready to do a lot more than just bite Damon. "After what happened with Stefan, we're not taking any chances. And none of us are looking like ourselves. Okay?"

"Okay," Tyler says. "But I don't think he's gonna get out of this. And it doesn't look like he's going to wake up."

"He might when you bite him. Just in case," she says. "And I'm wiping his memory of me."

Jeremy and Tyler roll their eyes but they don't argue. She'd rather be safe than sorry. She's known Damon and Stefan for a year and she doesn't underestimate their ability to get very, very lucky. Luck has been a large factor in why they've been alive this long. Stefan got out of the tomb once, with no help from her. And Damon got around a wolf bite. If that happens again, they're not going to have everything fall apart.

The boys stand back while Bonnie lights the candles and pours the water into the bowl that she places in the center. Portable nature.

"Do you need me?" Jeremy asks.

"Not yet." She'll need him for the tomb spell she thinks. She's stronger but she remembers not being able to do it once. Even though she's better now, having Jeremy there will help.

Damon's memories are easier to take than Stefan's. There's less to fish out but once they're gone, she nods to Jeremy. "Tomb first," she says. "Then the glamours."

He offers his hands and she takes them. It's different, channeling him as a hunter and not a plain human. There's more there for her to use.

"Take it," he says. "All of it, if you need it."

"I won't need all of it."

"But if you do, you can have it."

He's looking at her so earnestly, so intensely, Bonnie's glad she has an excuse to close her eyes. The way Jeremy looks at her has always been searing, like he sees all of her but it still searching for more.

She remembers the spell. She speaks, gripping Jeremy's hands so tight it hurts but he probably doesn't even feel it.

When she opens her eyes again, Jeremy's are the first thing she sees.

"Did it work?" Tyler asks. He's leaning against the wall with his arms folded tight across his chest, waiting patiently for her word.

She nods. "Come here. I'm changing your face."

"Don't make me ugly," he says with a smile as he comes down to her level, dropping on his knees.

"Don't worry, Lockwood," Jeremy says. "You're already there."

"Fuck you, Gilbert. You're one to talk," Tyler says but he's smiling and Jeremy laughs from behind her.

"You're both very good looking," she says.

Tyler's gaze slides to Jeremy and he smiles harder. "You hear that, Gilbert? We're _very_ good looking."

"I heard."

Bonnie rolls her eyes. She makes Tyler's hair blond, his eyes closer together and changes the irises to a pale blue. He get shorter, more muscular. His lips thin and widen, his nose elongates. His skin becomes pale.

"How do I look?" he asks in a voice higher pitched than his own.

"Like a different person. Jeremy, your turn."

Jeremy takes Tyler's place. She watches Jeremy's features melt away to be replaced by hair that's even darker than his already dark locks. It grows longer, stopping at his shoulders. His eyes are narrow and a grassy green. His lips become full and his nose widens. She puts a mole on his right cheek, the same one she'd kissed him on earlier. He's aged at least five years when she's finished.

"Still good looking?"

"Not my type," Bonnie says, "but someone out there would totally go for you."

Bonnie does hers quickly. Shortens her hair, makes her eyes dark brown. She fashions herself a nose ring and raises her cheekbones. Then she's satisfied that none of them looks like themselves.

"Now you can bite him."

Tyler squats down next to Damon and grabs his arm, fangs bared. When he sinks them into Damon's flesh, Bonnie feels a rush of excitement, like she did back in her home, staring over Damon. He'll be dead before the New Year.

Damon jolts, as if the venom has awoken him. Maybe it has because his eyes snap open.

"Get him inside," Bonnie says. "I'll hold him."

Damon doesn't have time to thrash or run or do anything because Bonnie binds his form, his voice. All he can do is stare at them with wide, feral eyes. Jeremy pushes him into the tomb. She waits until Damon is past the threshold and Jeremy is on the other side of it before she releases him.

Damon slams against the barrier. If it was visible, she thinks she may be able to see it shaking.

"Who the hell are you?"

"Don't worry about it," Jeremy says. "We finished?"

"Not yet," Tyler says. He approaches the giant rock that closed off the tomb's entrance and he starts pushing it back in place.

"No! No! My brother will come for me!"

"Shut up," Jeremy sighs.

"No one's coming for you," Bonnie says. "Especially not your brother."

Wherever Stefan is, Damon isn't his first priority. She's sure Elena will call Stefan when Damon doesn't come back, when she finally starts to worry and he'll come running. Maybe more for Elena than for Damon. Or maybe he actually will come for Damon. Out of the two of them, Stefan's been more constant in his desire to protect his brother than Damon has.

This is as close to afraid as Bonnie's ever seen Damon. Whether it's because he's trapped inside the tomb or because he realizes the chances of Stefan coming are very, very low, she doesn't know. She doesn't care. Damon's face is disappearing behind a huge, hulking rock and she put him there.

She smiles. "Merry Christmas, Damon."

* * *

Damon doesn't scream. Maybe he's too proud to scream. Either way, Tyler's glad but he doesn't want to hear Damon's mouth anymore today. He leads Bonnie and Jeremy out of the tomb and out into the cool night. They all look like themselves again. "I say we celebrate," he says when they reach Damon's car.

"Celebrate what?" Bonnie scoffs. "He's still alive."

"Not for long," Jeremy says. "And it's Christmas."

"And I'm the Alpha," Tyler adds. "Seems like a good night to celebrate to me." He's on a high. Kim and the rest of the pack are under control, Damon's on day one of rotting in the tomb and it's Christmas. He's there with Bonnie and Jeremy and they're finally seeing results. Maybe not the ultimate result but it's _so_ close.

"I can't," Bonnie says. "My dad's in town. And after what happened with Stefan, I think we should make sure nothing goes wrong."

"It's one night, Bonnie," Tyler says. "Come on. We can get rid of Damon's car on the way. You can tell your dad you're staying at Elena's for awhile. You'll be back late. No big deal."

Bonnie hesitates. She's just so _responsible_. "Come on," Tyler says. "We'll go to our _favorite_ neighboring town, pick out a spot with decent alcohol, and we'll celebrate."

Bonnie still doesn't look like she's on board.

Tyler turns to Jeremy. "Gilbert, tell her to come with us."

"Bonnie, come with us. We don't want to go without you."

"So don't go," she says. "We can't leave town right now. You just bit Damon Salvatore and now he's dying in the tomb."

"He'll still be dying in the tomb in the morning," Tyler says. He touches her shoulders and she rolls her eyes. "Come on. Elena's party, though exciting with all the blood and everything, was a bust. Okay? So let's go make our own fun. Just for a few hours. Come on."

"Bonnie," Jeremy says. "It'll be fun. Tyler's paying."

Tyler glares at him and Jeremy only shrugs. "Fine. The _first_ round is on me. But I'll pay for your second drink since you're so unwilling."

She holds his gaze. In the dark her eyes look greener than usual. Finally she sighs dramatically. "So what are we doing with Damon's car?"

* * *

They leave their cars there and drive Damon's. When they hit town they leave it on a side street with the keys in the ignition. Between the three of them they've got money to pay for a cab to take them back. Even though she agreed to come, Tyler can tell Bonnie's not totally on board yet. Not when they find a bar or when Tyler passes Jeremy or beer or passes her a fruitier cocktail thing because she doesn't like beer.

It's not until they start drinking that she starts smiling a little more.

"See?" Tyler says, nudging her shoulder. They're sitting at a table in the corner, facing the makeshift dancefloor. "This is fun."

Bonnie's halfway done with her drink and she nods her head. "It _is_ fun."

"And we're badasses," Tyler adds. "Badass hybrid, badass witch, badass hunter. We're badass."

Jeremy nods along slowly. "Amen."

"And you're not just a hybrid anymore," Bonnie says. "You're the Alpha."

"You _are_," Jeremy says, like he's forgotten. "Congratulations, man."

"Thanks. You were pretty good today yourself. Never saw a butcher knife slide into a neck so smooth."

Thank God the music's too loud for anyone to hear them.

_"_What can I say? I'm good with a knife."

Bonnie clears her throat.

Drunk Bonnie is cockier than Sober Bonnie. Tyler likes that. "You were amazing," he says.

"You're always amazing," Jeremy adds.

Tyler swallows down his laugh. Jeremy gets more and more infatuated with her every minute. He can't tell how receptive Bonnie is to it.

"Without you," Tyler says, trying to sound as dramatic as possible, "this wouldn't be happening at all. So thank you, Bonnie, for embarking on this quest to rid the world of Salvatores. When I first suggested this, I couldn't have imagined we'd come so far." He could actually but sometime he still can't believe they're doing it, that they're so set on doing it.

They might be getting a bit ahead of themselves. Damon's still in the land of the living, after all. But it feels so close. Closer than it did with Stefan. With Stefan he was going to be alive until they introduced him to a stake, but Damon's dying. Slowly but surely dying. And his mind is going with him.

Tyler realizes he's excited to see Jeremy stake him later.

Bonnie grins. "Well, it wouldn't be happening without you guys either. So to us, I guess."

They raise their glasses to _clink_ them against each other.

"I'm glad we did this," she says after taking another sip of her drink. "Elena's party did kind of suck."

"Kind of?" Jeremy says skeptically.

"Okay, it sucked a lot until the stabbing happened," Bonnie says, giggling. It seems to overwhelm her and Tyler's never seen Bonnie laugh like that, when it fills her whole body and she can hardly breathe. It's infectious and Tyler can't help laughing with her. He wonders if this makes them sick or something, laughing about a stabbing at a Christmas party, relishing in the blood on the counter and floor. The red liquid trailing down Damon's neck.

"But did you guys see Elena's face?" Jeremy says. He mimics Elena's shocked face, the wide eyes, open mouth, the intake of breath. "I almost started laughing right there."

"She would have been _so_ mad if you had," Bonnie says but she's still laughing.

"I don't know she was already pretty mad I stabbed him at all."

"Let's be honest here," Tyler says, "the only person in that room really broken up about it was Elena."

"And April," Bonnie adds. "But she doesn't know Damon."

Welcome to Mystic Falls, where the only way you can like Damon Salvatore is if you've never met him. Or if you're his brother. Or if you're Elena Gilbert.

"Okay," Tyler says. "Now, I have a question and I don't care which one of you answers it."

Bonnie groans. She knows what's coming but she looks at him like she's bored and waits.

"What's the question?" Jeremy says.

"Did you or did you not have sex with each other?"

Jeremy laughs but Tyler notices he's avoiding looking at Bonnie. "Really, Lockwood?"

"I'm curious."

Bonnie raises an eyebrow. "Why_?_"

"Because _nobody_ knows. How does _nobody _in this town know? No one but you two. So tell me." When they both stare at him, he throws up his hands. "It's Christmas. Neither of you got anything. Give me this gift. I won't tell anybody. Not even Caroline." He doesn't get why it's got to be a big secret but it's driving him crazy now. And he also has the distinct feeling they both know that.

Jeremy's still laughing. "You're so drunk, Lockwood."

Bonnie downs the rest of her drink. "I'm going to dance," she says. "You're both welcome to join me."

They watch her go. Jeremy finishes off his beer, keeping his eyes on her the whole time. "I'm going with her," he says. Of course he is. "You coming or you going to sit here and speculate on the sex me and Bonnie might have had?"

Tyler gives him the finger. "I'm coming."

* * *

Tyler isn't sure how it happens. One minute they're dancing in some kind of circle, to weird dance remixes of Christmas songs. They're in their own little world. A hybrid, a witch and a hunter and no one else matters. And then Bonnie's in between Tyler and Jeremy, one arm looped around Jeremy's neck and the other reaching back to twine around Tyler's. He'd think he was intruding on something personal and very Bonnie/Jeremy if not for that arm. They find a rhythm. Bonnie's hips guide them both. They're all molded together. Tyler's hands on Bonnie's waist and Jeremy's just slightly lower. She links them together and has never looked as tiny as she does when she's sandwiched between them.

Maybe they're all suffering for some kind of bloodlust. Jeremy ripping Damon's throat open with a knife earlier and Bonnie putting him down with some witchy brain explosions and Tyler condemning him with a bite. Tyler thought he was riding high from becoming the Alpha but it's more than that. Not to mention they're all somewhere way south of sober and it's the best Christmas any of them has ever had. But it's like nothing exists outside of this room. Not even the room, just them and the little niche they've carved out for themselves. Just the three of them, the only people there, in the city, in the state, in the world, who know exactly what they've done tonight. And no one but Jeremy and Bonnie can understand just how _good_ Tyler feels.

Jeremy lowers her mouth to Bonnie's ear. He has to yell. "Wanna take a shot?"

Bonnie nods her head and Jeremy releases her. She spins around to throw her arms around Tyler's neck. She's further gone than both of them. Whatever was in that drink, it was serious. She never stops dancing. It reminds him of that day in her room when she floated him and Jeremy around. She's not weighed down by anything, not by vampires, not by Damon and Stefan or Originals or anyone else. She's just Bonnie. And she's magic.

"You want one?" Jeremy asks, over Bonnie's head.

"You paying?"

Jeremy rolls his eyes but nods.

"Then yeah."

Bonnie laughs against his chest and he's not sure why. "What's so funny?" he asks.

"We're doing it," she says. She tilts her head back to look at him and she's smiling. She looks so happy, so free. "For real this time. No one's gonna mess this up."

"No one's gonna mess this up," he repeats. "Damon will be dead in a few days. One Salvatore down. One more to go."

"Then Klaus," she says, tightening her arms around him. "We'll find a way."

"We have a way," he says. "If it exists."

"You want to cure Klaus."

"And then kill him."

Bonnie exhales and nods her head. "Okay."

Just okay. Just like that. And he knows she'll deliver, even though they're both drunker than they've been in each other's presence in a long time. Even though they never spoke much those few times they were. She'll remember it in the morning. And when Damon's dead, and Stefan has followed him to hell, they'll send Klaus after them. Bonnie hasn't let him down yet. He'd be surprised if she ever did. Jeremy will help. He's got plenty of reason to want Klaus dead and he'll go where Bonnie goes. They'll kill Klaus together. A hybrid, a witch and a hunter. They won't fail.

"I think your bracelet worked, whatever it did," Tyler says. "Things went _great_ with Kim."

_For protection_, she said.

"It didn't," she says, not looking at him. Instead she stares down at the space between them. "It hasn't done what it's supposed to do yet."

"What's it supposed to do?"

Bonnie shakes her head slightly. "Hopefully you won't find out."

Before Tyler can press her on that, Jeremy returns with three shot glasses and gives Tyler and Bonnie theirs.

"To phase one," Jeremy says.

"Phase one."

They down them in unison.

* * *

**This chapter was the most Tyler/Bonnie/Jeremy one yet. I'm kind of OT3'ing it up them right now. On a platonic level at least. I can't say yet how that's going to play out in the rest of the story but them as a team is kind of giving me life. So I hope you enjoyed it :)**


	16. The Call

**Thank you for all your reviews! I'm glad last chapter was to your liking. I'd been waiting forever to write that one and get your feedback. ****This chapter marks Jeremy's first POV and there's some Forwood (can't have Tyler without Forwood...yet). **

* * *

The Call

Bonnie's dad wakes her up in the morning. She doesn't think he heard her come in last night. Mostly because she did a spell to silence her footsteps as she climbed the stairs and slipped into her bedroom. But he's always been a deep sleeper. "Hey," he says.

"Hi."

"I have to go a little earlier than usual," he says.

Bonnie isn't surprised.

"Okay."

She sits up so she can hug him. "Where are you going this time?"

"Ohio," he says.

She's stopped expecting him to call it quits. He used to talk about working in town. He's a familiar face, people like him. He could do as much of a public service as Caroline's or Tyler's moms but instead he likes the road. And he doesn't seem to mind being away from Bonnie all the time. And she's stopped minding that he doesn't mind.

"I'll call you when I get there." He kisses her forehead.

"I'll walk you out."

"No go back to sleep," he says.

Bonnie opens her mouth to tell him she didn't get back _that_ late but he winks and rises from the bed. "See you soon, kiddo."

"Bye."

From her window, Bonnie watches her dad's car peel away from the curb. She crawls back into bed when he's gone and draws the covers up to her chest. When she closes her eyes she can still hear the bad Christmas remixes and feel Tyler and Jeremy with her, dancing like they're all normal. Jeremy at her front and Tyler at her back, keeping pace with each other, moving in tandem with both of them holding her waist, downing alcohol like water. She'd only had that kind of fun with Caroline and Elena, back when they really were normal. And she can't remember the last time they did anything as fun as that. She could suggest a sleepover or something but it would feel dishonest since she's currently one third of the reason Damon's rotting in the tomb. And soon she'll be one third of the reason he's dead.

She should probably prepare herself to comfort Elena. And prepare Tyler and Jeremy to deal with the rest of the group's offensive strategy once they discover Damon's dead.

Her phone rings.

She finds it underneath her pillow, Tyler's name flashing across the screen. She smiles until she realizes he could be calling because something has gone wrong.

"Is everything okay?" she asks.

Tyler's laughter on the other end wipes all her fears away. "I was calling to see if you were awake yet," he says, "but as far as I know, everything's fine."

"Oh."

"How do you feel?" Tyler asks.

"Good. How do you feel?"

"Good."

"How's Jeremy feel?"

Tyler laughs. "I assume he's on the same page. Want to meet us at the tomb? I'll bring you breakfast."

* * *

Bonnie fixes them up before they go down, changes their faces, alters their voices. She moves the rock herself, with a wave of her hand. Damon hasn't moved. He's sitting on the ground with his back up against the wall. Even though it's only been a few hours, he looks bad. He might look better with blood but he won't find any. Bonnie wonders if that'll make him die faster.

"Come to finish me off?"

"Not yet," Jeremy says. He stands tantalizingly close to the barrier, just outside the threshold, just out of Damon's reach. If Damon could reach him, he'd drain him.

It's dark in there but Bonnie can see it, the bite. It's not as bad as it will be. But he must remember how it went the first time. His mind's going to start to crumble soon. She imagines he's trying to hold on to the good things, those things in life that Damon must have found perfect, memories that will become scattered and unreachable with some more time. Memories of him finally getting Elena, ruined and scarred. He'll die with them like that. She takes a perverse pleasure in it.

"What do you want?" Damon's breathing is labored and his voice thick with strain. He's deteriorating fast.

"You," Bonnie says, "exactly where you are. Dying."

"Why?"

"Why not?" Tyler snaps. "Better people than you are dead. Why shouldn't you join them?"

"I've protected this town."

"You've helped _destroy_ it."

"And what do _you_ know about it?"

"Plenty."

Damon swallows. "Who _are_ you?"

"It's not important," Bonnie says. "Enjoy the next few days, Damon. The next time we see each other, it'll be the last time you see anyone."

Bonnie moves the rock back in front of the entrance. Damon doesn't say another word.

* * *

Bonnie spells it so Damon won't be able to hear them talking and she settles down in the corner. Tyler passes her the sausage biscuit she wanted. She unwraps it while humming to herself, looking down at her grimoire. She's already got several pages written. A warmth blooms in Tyler's chest when he sees her with it, holding the book against her. It already looks like it belongs to her, like it was made for her and her magic.

He can hear Damon.

He's started hallucinating.

Elena this. Katherine that. Stefan please.

Jeremy joins Bonnie on the ground and Tyler sinks down on the other side of him.

"When do you think they'll notice he's missing?"

"Elena's probably already wondering," Bonnie says. "She won't _really _freak out until tonight. By morning Stefan will be involved. And Elena will be asking us for help. That's when we kill Damon."

His phone rings. It's Caroline. "Hey," he says.

Jeremy and Bonnie barely acknowledge it. He's looking over her shoulder while she writes and she breaks off a piece of her sandwich to give to him even though he ate at the manor already.

"Where are you?"

"I'm just running errands," he says. He feels guilty about how easy it is to lie to Caroline. This thing, this mission to get rid of Stefan and Damon, has taken over his life. Meanwhile, Caroline who is one of the most important people in that same life, has no idea. And he doesn't even flinch when lying to her. "What are you doing?"

"Elena wants to talk to me," Caroline sighs. "I think she wants to talk about Jeremy and Damon yesterday but she doesn't want to call Bonnie because she thinks Bonnie will tell Jeremy or take Jeremy's side or something. I don't know, but it's a big mess. I still can't believe Jeremy did that."

"Well," Tyler sighs, "someone was going to eventually." He'll never be able to get past the image of that knife in Damon's throat.

Caroline laughs on the other end but cuts herself off. "No, we can't laugh. Elena's not laughing."

He glances toward Bonnie and Jeremy again. Bonnie's covering her mouth with her hand because she's laughing so hard at something Jeremy's said. He knows they're not laughing at _that_ but still, it makes him smile. "Then she's missing out."

"Hopefully this won't take long," Caroline says. "Do you want to meet me for lunch at the Grill?"

"Yeah, text me when you're finished with Elena."

* * *

"So my dad left this morning," Bonnie says, when Tyler's gone to meet Caroline for lunch. She doesn't look up from her grimoire where she's writing in her characteristically messy handwriting.

"That was fast," Jeremy comments.

"Yeah, he was in a big hurry to get to Ohio."

"Sorry."

Bonnie shrugs. "So you can come back whenever you want."

"Do you...want me to come back?"

She pauses from her writing to look at him. "What do you mean? We agreed it was just until he left again."

"I know," Jeremy says, "but I'm fine at Tyler's, too. If you don't want me at your place, I can stay with him."

He'd rather stay with Bonnie, of course. Tyler's house is overflowing with hybrids and most of them try not to look at him, worried that he'll try to kill them even though Tyler's told them Jeremy won't hurt them. And he's worried he makes Bonnie uncomfortable being there. If he didn't before, he ruined something trying to tell her how he felt that other night.

Bonnie looks at him, cocking her head to the side. Her hand hovers over the page. "Do you want to stay at Tyler's?"

Jeremy swallows. "I want to be wherever you want me to be."

"Well, I don't want you to be somewhere you don't want to be."

He can't help smiling. They could go in these circles all day.

"I _want_ to be with you," Jeremy says, sure she can catch the double meaning in his words, "but if you want your house to yourself, don't feel bad about it. Tyler won't care if I stay with him."

Bonnie sighs impatiently. "Just sleep on my couch, Jeremy." Then, softer, "It's an empty house. It's nice to have someone else there. You can come back tonight."

She says it so matter-of-factly, Jeremy knows he wouldn't have had a choice either way. Not that he wants one, if this is what Bonnie's decided. It feels like something has changed between them after last night. It's nothing drastic but it feels like some kind of barrier had been lowered. Working to kill people together does that apparently. He notices it with Tyler and Bonnie, who laugh and joke together now like they never did before after trying to kill Stefan and now on their way to killing Damon. It's changed everything between them now and not in a bad way.

Bonnie's not going to comment on him wanting to be with her but that's fine. She wants him at her house, where she is, and she thinks it's "nice". He'll take it.

He'll tell Tyler not to be too broken up about him leaving.

* * *

"So, what's it like being a big deal Alpha hybrid man?" Caroline asks.

The Grill is dead and Matt is their waiter. He greets them both but just barely. Maybe he's still shaken from the events of Elena's Christmas party. It's just Caroline, his ex-girlfriend. And Tyler, his ex-best friend. No big deal.

"It's kind of the same right now," Tyler says. He ponders telling Caroline about the promise he made to the hybrids. Not now, in public where anyone could be listening. But eventually. She'd be on board for that, at least. Or at least he hopes she'd be. But he knows Klaus is obsessed with her and Caroline can appreciate someone appreciating her.

But it's Klaus.

He killed Elena's aunt, tried to kill Bonnie, made Tyler _bite_ Caroline. If there's a single person in that town Caroline should be able to deal with dying, it's Klaus. And if they can get around the bloodline, why not?

"How'd it go with Elena?"

"Well, it went pretty much as well as I expected," Caroline says. "She's worried about Jeremy. She wanted me to ask you how he's doing."

"He's fine."

"He hasn't tried anything with the hybrids? Not even last night?"

"I think it's pretty obvious the only vampires Jeremy's got a problem with are Elena, Stefan and Damon," Tyler says. "And he only went after Damon because of Bonnie."

"Well, Elena's not really...getting it."

Tyler rolls his eyes. "Elena hasn't been getting a lot of things lately."

He has the misfortune of saying that just as Matt returns to drop down a few extra napkins. He pretends he didn't hear but Tyler knows he has and from the hard set of his shoulders, he's offended.

Caroline knows it, too. "I know your Elena tolerance is waning," she says, reaching across the table to grasp his hands, "but she's going through a really hard time. And this sire bond is affecting her more than she wants to admit. You remember how you were when you were sired..."

"Yeah, I was shit," Tyler says. "But Elena's been shit for awhile."

Caroline makes a face. It reminds him of the look Bonnie gives him whenever he says something negative about Elena. It's gotten to a point where he knows they're both annoyed with him but also knows they won't hold it against him for long.

He apologizes anyway. Even if Caroline isn't Elena's biggest fan right now, she's the only one allowed to be vocal about it.

"I'll let it slide. It's going to take something drastic to make her want to break the sire bond."

"Really drastic."

It took biting Caroline for him to see it. Maybe killing Damon will be enough. He's more than a little annoyed he had to figure it out the hard way and Elena gets it sorted out for her. Granted, their method for it isn't what Elena would want but if it works, it'll be another thing they've done that's benefited Elena.

Welcome to Mystic Falls, where even when you're going against Elena, you're helping Elena.

"She's freaking out because she doesn't know where Damon is," Caroline explains. "Apparently he went to find Stefan last night because he got hit with some weird, Salvatore Christmas feelings and he hasn't talked to her since."

"Have you talked to Stefan?" Tyler asks warily.

"Yeah, I called him yesterday to say Merry Christmas," Caroline says, "but I haven't talked to him today. I texted him to ask if Damon found him but he didn't respond."

"Where is Stefan?"

"He went to Richmond," Caroline says with a shrug. "Don't know why but he likes it there so whatever. But I wouldn't be surprised if Damon lied. It's _Damon_. And don't tell anyone I said this but Elena is _so_ clingy now that she's sired. He probably left for a breather."

Tyler laughs. It's good to laugh with Caroline again. It's moments like this that he wants to tell her everything about Damon, Stefan and their plans. Then he remembers that Caroline texts Stefan sweet, holiday messages and thinks better of it.

"So how much is she freaking out?" He hopes he's being subtle.

Caroline shrugs. "I told her Damon and Stefan are probably just figuring stuff out. I mean, they have to have a conversation about this, right? I mean, Elena was with Stefan like...yesterday and now she's with Damon. A conversation is needed. Right?"

"Right," Tyler says dutifully.

"Right." She says it in that way that he knows the conversation is over. She confirms that when she changes the subject.

"So," Caroline says, "do you think having sex as supreme Alpha guy will be different than having sex as...not supreme Alpha guy?"

"After this," Tyler says, with a smile, "we'll find out."

* * *

As it turns out, the sex is the same.

They're in his bed with only the sheets to cover them, Caroline resting against Tyler's side with her blond curls falling over his arm. "I think Stefan's still looking for the cure," she says.

"Can we _not_ talk about Stefan when we're naked?"

"Sorry," she says. "I can get dressed."

"Or we can just not talk about Stefan."

"Sorry," she says again.

She's quiet for awhile.

"You still have stuff to say don't you?"

"Yes."

"Let me put pants on."

After he's pulled on a pair of jeans, he sits back down on the bed and lets Caroline talk.

"Klaus is helping him look for it," Caroline says. "Apparently."

Klaus looking for the very cure they want to use on him. How ironic.

"Why's he doing that?"

"He wants Elena to be his walking, talking blood bag again."

"Well, that sucks."

"Understatement," Caroline says.

"Is that why Stefan went to Richmond? Something there?"

"I don't think so. He's just moping. I think he's holding out hope that making Elena human will make her want to be with him again."

"Because Elena's sired?"

"Yeah."

If Tyler has his way, Elena's not going to be with either brother.

"But I'm trying to tell him not to get his hopes up," Caroline goes on, "because she might just _like _Damon."

"Can't see why."

"Me either!"

Caroline falls back onto the bed, not even concerned with covering herself up. At least one of them doesn't mind discussing this town's most grating residents while naked.

"So can we get back to doing what we were doing?" Tyler asks.

"Yes we-" She's cut off by her ringing phone and she groans but goes to answer it anyway. "Might be Stefan."

"Might be," Tyler says dully.

"It's Elena," Caroline sighs. "She's probably still freaking out. Just give me, like, a minute."

Tyler sighs as dramatically as he can but she only smiles.

"Hello?"

Tyler can hear Elena on the other end.

"Where are you right now?"

_Enjoying a moment without you in it_, he thinks.

"I'm at Tyler's. Why? Something wrong?"

"I think...I think something's happening," Elena says. "Do you remember when Stefan locked Damon in the cellar at the boarding house?"

Tyler is eagerly awaiting the day they can get through all 24 hours without a single mention of Damon or Stefan Salvatore. It won't happen immediately after they're dead but it'll come.

"That was eons ago but yes."

Caroline reaches for Tyler across the bed and pulls him down next to her, interlacing their fingers. She stares up at the ceiling while Tyler plants a kiss on her shoulder. It's not enough to encourage her to hang up. And to think they were having such a good time.

"And you were compelled and he made you go let him out?" Elena says.

"Yes, I vaguely recall something like that," Caroline sighs. "Why?"

She rolls over to look at him. _I'm sorry_, she mouths.

"What did you...see?"

"See?" Caroline releases Tyler's hand and moves her fingers through his hair instead. "I don't know. Stuff. I just...I had to go get him out. I knew where he was. He took me straight to him."

"Do you...Do you think the sire bond can do that?"

"Elena, nothing's wrong with Damon," Caroline says. "I'm sure he's fine."

Tyler touches a strand of Caroline's hair and twists it around his finger.

"But he's _not_,_" _Elena insists. "I can feel it. I can feel _him_. I think he's calling me."

"_Calling_ you?"

"He needs my help," she goes on. "I think I know where he is."

* * *

**For those of you wondering, the only people on the hit list for this fic are Stefan and Damon. But I'm planning on beginning the second part, tentatively titled Kill Klaus where Klaus is going to become the prime target along with at least one other Original who I will not yet name, though I suppose it could be kind of obvious if you think about it. But since none of the Originals have been exactly _good_ to the trio, they could all be in the line of fire (I guess you can make a case for Kol not being _that_ bad to these particular three though and Finn's dead so...).**

**Anyway, I hope you enjoyed the chapter. :) **


	17. Ghost

Ghost

Elena's already there when Bonnie and Jeremy return. They left to get food awhile ago and they hadn't even made it to the Grill before Tyler was texting Bonnie. His message is still on her phone's screen.

_KILL HIM NOW. ELENA COMING FOR HIM._

The rock has been pushed to the side and Elena is on the ground in front of the entrance. Damon is back a few feet further than he was before, lying on his back and staring up at the darkness like it's speaking to him. It probably is.

"Caroline called you?" Elena says, leaping to her feet.

"No," Bonnie says. "Tyler."

That's not too unbelievable. And it's also kind of true.

"You have to get him out," she says. "He was bitten, I think. By a wolf. Or a hybrid. I don't know. He didn't know who I was at first." She's crying, her body trembling. Damon's not even dead yet. It'll be worse when he is.

"I might not be able to," Bonnie lies. "My powers…."

"But you said you're getting better," Elena points out. "Because of Shane, right?"

"I'll try," Bonnie says, "but I…I don't know if I can."

They agreed on this in the car. If Elena wanted Bonnie to open the tomb, she wouldn't be able to. She'd try but she'd fail. It's not hard to do. A year ago Bonnie couldn't open it herself and her Grams died trying to close it. It'll be easy for Elena to believe that Bonnie's simply not capable.

Jeremy has moved to stand near the entrance. He crouches down near Damon but doesn't say anything. Damon, too busy muttering to himself, barely acknowledges him.

"Okay," Elena says, nodding her head. "I already called Stefan. I had to leave a message but I think he'll come and he'll be able to get Klaus."

_Hopefully he won't_, Bonnie thinks. She prays that Stefan is clinging to his petty brooding and won't check his messages anytime soon.

"He needs blood," she says. "I told Caroline to bring some. Where is she?"

Maybe Tyler's succeeded at stalling her.

"We're here."

Caroline and Tyler appear. She's carrying blood bags and Elena takes them from her instantly, ripping them open. She throws them to Damon. With the blood so close, his hand shoots out to drag them to his lips, one by one, choking them down furiously. His face is coated in it and he wipes at his mouth viciously. When he's done, he licks the blood off his fingers.

Bonnie looks in Tyler's direction. His hands are in his pockets and his mouth is set in a firm line. He doesn't talk and neither does Jeremy, who stares down at Elena passively.

Elena tries talking to him again. "Damon, who did this to you?"

He groans.

"Damon," she repeats, "who did this?"

"Hybrid," he sighs. "Witch. Another one."

_Hybrid, witch, hunter._

It's hard not to look at Tyler and Jeremy.

"Did they say anything to you?" Elena asks.

"Stefan," Damon says.

"They said something about Stefan?"

Bonnie sees Jeremy roll his eyes but she doesn't think anyone else noticed. She gives him a look.

_Be natural_, she tells him.

Jeremy nods slightly.

"I'll…start the spell," Bonnie says finally. "I have candles and stuff in my car."

"I'll go with you," Jeremy says.

As they leave, Bonnie meets Tyler's gaze. We're taking care of it. Don't worry.

He's wound tight, a far cry from last night when they were all happy and loose and humming with the anticipation, the satisfaction of knowing Damon would be dead soon. He probably thinks it's Stefan all over again. Another vampire doppelganger, come to ruin all their plans.

It won't go that way this time.

Jeremy follows her back up top and they walk to her car. Once they're far enough away, where they're sure neither Caroline nor Elena will overhear, he speaks. "What the hell are we gonna do?"

Bonnie sighs. "I don't know. She's not going to leave him, not even if I can't get him out."

"We're not just giving up though, right?"

"No," Bonnie says. "We did that with Stefan."

"You had a reason."

"Well I don't have one this time," she sighs. "We can work around this. It'll be harder but it's not impossible. I think I can get you in there to stake him."

"With everyone in there? Elena, Stefan, Caroline? You and Tyler?"

"You and me won't be there," Bonnie says. There's a plan forming in her mind. They can make it work. She knows they can. They can do it within the next couple of hours. "I'll explain later. Just…be cool, okay?"

Jeremy nods. He carries all the candles she needs back to the tomb.

"Stefan's still not answering," Elena says. "Caroline, will you try? He might be avoiding me."

"Yeah," Caroline says with a nod of her head. She takes her phone outside with her while Jeremy and Bonnie set up the candles.

I'm going to channel you, she tells him. Pretend to channel you at least.

Jeremy nods and offers his hands.

Bonnie speaks. The words aren't the right ones. She leaves out large parts, repeats others until it's nonsensical. It's not like anyone there would be able to tell the difference. She keeps this up for awhile. She makes her nose start bleeding.

"Bonnie," Jeremy says, with his typical concern. She thinks he's just playing along but it's very possible he's not.

_I'm fine_, she tells him, just in case._ I'm going to black out soon_. She extends it to Tyler, too so he won't worry.

Jeremy gives her fingers a squeeze and she knows he understands.

* * *

Caroline's still outside when Bonnie collapses and it's just Jeremy, Elena and Tyler down there. Even though they both know it's not real, Tyler goes to her side and Jeremy's gentle with her when he touches her face and wipes blood away from her nose with his sleeve.

"Did it work?" Elena asks.

Tyler is sure he and Jeremy are giving her the same incredulous look but it's Jeremy who speaks. "Why don't you go in there and see?" he snaps. "She told you it wouldn't, Elena."

Elena has the decency to look a little embarrassed. _It's the sire bond_, Tyler thinks. Bonnie wouldn't sacrifice everything all the time for Elena if she really was this way. "Is she okay?"

Jeremy touches Bonnie's neck to feel for a pulse. "I think so," he says. "I'm getting here out of here."

"You're not gonna stay?" Elena asks.

"Excuse me for not wanting Bonnie to lay on the ground bleeding," Jeremy says.

"That's not what I meant," she says. "I just think we should stick together. If someone's targeting us, we need to be together."

Jeremy looks between Tyler and Elena. "Then why's Caroline outside by herself?" He picks Bonnie up and leaves the candles behind.

Well, Tyler's not going to stay down there alone with Elena and a dying Damon. "That's a good point actually," he says, following Jeremy.

Of course nothing's happened to Caroline. She's standing outside on her phone, tapping her foot impatiently. "Is Bonnie okay?" she asks when she sees them.

"She couldn't break it," Jeremy explains. "I'm taking her home. Reach Stefan?"

Caroline shakes her head. "No. But I can call Klaus."

"Why would you call Klaus?" Tyler asks.

"So he'll give Damon his blood," Caroline says.

"But why do you have to call?"

Caroline sighs. "I think he's more likely to come if I'm the one doing the asking. If not Stefan, it should be me."

Jeremy has paused from his walk back to Bonnie's car to look between the two of them. "I'll see you guys," he says awkwardly, turning to carry Bonnie back to where their cars are parked.

"I didn't realize Klaus was on your speed dial," Tyler says.

"We need him for this," she says. "And you know that."

"Yeah, I do know," he says. "Doesn't mean I have to be happy about it." He leans against one of the trees and folds his arms across his chest. "Well, call him."

"Don't be mad," Caroline says.

"I'm not."

She'd argue more if they had time. And if her phone didn't start ringing.

"Stefan, thank God," she says. "You have to get back here like _yesterday_. Someone put Damon in the tomb. After he was bitten by a hybrid. How soon can you get here?"

"Yeah I got Elena's message," Stefan answers. "I was already on my way back. I'll be there in forty-five minutes tops. Did Damon say anything about who did it?"

"We don't know. A hybrid, a witch and a third," Caroline says.

"I'll call Klaus."

Yes, let Stefan call Klaus. Sometime it seems that Klaus isn't sure which of them he's more obsessed with.

"Good." Caroline sounds relieved and she glances back in Tyler's direction but he looks away from her. "He'll come, right?"

"The last time we wanted Klaus to help Damon," Stefan says, "he asked for something in return."

"Well, what else could he possibly want from you?"

"I've got nothing left to give him," Stefan says. "But I'll come up with something."

Tyler pulls his phone from his jacket, sends a text to Bonnie's phone. _Stefan close to town. Calling Klaus. Work fast._

* * *

"So what are we doing?" Jeremy asks as Bonnie closes the front door, shrugging off her jacket and tossing it onto the arm of her sofa. He throws his on top of it.

"A spell."

"I figured," he said.

"I read about it in one of the grimoires," Bonnie says. "I'll send you to the tomb. You'll be like a ghost. No one will see you or hear you but you'll be able to touch things, to interact with the environment."

"To kill Damon?"

"Yes. Did you text Tyler?"

"Yeah, I told him we left the stake underneath his car," Jeremy says.

Bonnie was very clear. All Tyler has to do is get it into the tomb. With Elena and Caroline there, it'll be hard but all he'll need is a couple seconds of the two of them being distracted.

"Once you're there, you'll be able to talk to me if you want and you'll be able to hear me," Bonnie says as she leads him up to her room. She starts flipping through grimoires until she finds the one she needs and opens it up to the right page. "Unless there's a problem, we shouldn't have much to say. Once you get in there, stake Damon."

"Sounds simple."

"Not quite," Bonnie says.

"Never mind."

She smiles apologetically. "It's going to be harder," she says. "You won't feel be as strong but you're already extra strong because you're a hunter so-"

"Now I'll be at regular human strength?"

"I hope so."

Bonnie pulls out a bunch of candles. Jeremy helps. She lights them all by hand instead of with her magic.

"Are you going to be strong enough to do this? Without channeling me?"

"I'll be fine," she says. "I just want to conserve as much magical energy as possible. Get on the floor."

As a courtesy, she puts down a pillow.

"Thank you," he says.

"You're welcome."

She fills a bowl with water and kneels at his side. She checks her phone.

"Tyler hasn't texted back yet," she says.

They're short on time but Tyler knows that. He made sure _they_ knew it.

"He will," Jeremy says.

"Be as careful as you can," Bonnie says. "Even though no one can see you, your body can still be affected."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, if you get set on fire there, you'll burn here."

"Think Damon's got a flamethrower in there with him?"

Bonnie hits his arm playfully. "Just be careful."

"I will."

Bonnie's phone vibrates. "He did it. He said he threw it kind of far back so they wouldn't see but it's there. Ready?"

"Ready."

She dips her fingers into the water, touches his head. He closes his eyes and focuses on her voice, the careful Latin and her feather light touch.

When Jeremy opens his eyes again, he's not in Bonnie's bedroom. He's back in the tomb.

Elena and Caroline are standing right next to him, though neither of them sees him. Elena's still crying a little. Jeremy sees more blood bags lying next to Damon, empty and crumpled. He had enough energy to sit up against the wall. The blood has helped but he still looks weak. Maybe Tyler sent them off for more blood to get them out of the way. He's against the wall, arms folded. If Jeremy didn't know better, he'd say Tyler looked bored.

Jeremy steps into the tomb.

He's careful not to alter Damon to his presence while he looks for the stake. And he tries not to disturb anything. It'll only take a slight noise to draw attention.

He's beginning to think Tyler needs to tone down his throwing arm when he finds it.

It doesn't feel as light as usual and his grip isn't as tight. Just like Bonnie said.

Jeremy lowers himself to the ground. If Caroline or Elena sees a stake floating through the air, they're bound to get suspicious. And he can't be sure Elena won't throw herself into the tomb, spell or not. If it means protecting Damon, she's likely to do whatever it takes. The best thing to do is makes sure no one realizes there's a threat.

When he's within a foot of Damon, he takes a deep breath. Damon can barely keep his eyes open. When they flutter closed, Jeremy's hold tightens – as much as it can – on the stake. He measures the placement of the heart, remembers where it is. He found it with Katherine, with Elena in the dreams Bonnie created. He can hit Damon's.

Elena sniffs from outside the tomb. "I just don't want to lose anyone else," she says.

Caroline's comforting her, smoothing her hair and rubbing her back and telling her everything's going to be fine. Stefan will be there soon. He'll get Klaus to come. Damon will be fine. They'll find a way to get him out of the tomb. Then they'll find whoever did this. They won't get away with it.

Jeremy smirks because they will.

"Elena."

Damon's voice startles him.

Elena breaks away from Caroline and wipes her face. "Yeah?"

His eyes are still closed. "Where's Stefan?"

"He's on his way," Elena says. "He's probably already in town by now."

"Why isn't he here?"

"He's getting Klaus. To heal you."

"He's not going to."

"He might," Caroline says.

Damon might have cracked a smile.

"He will," Elena says. "Stefan's coming for you."

_Jeremy_.

It's Bonnie's voice, sounding like it's all around him.

"Stefan's not coming for me," Damon mumbles.

_Are you okay?_

"I'm fine," he assures her. "They're talking. I'm trying to wait until they…turn around or something."

"No, he is," Elena says. "I promise he is."

_Be patient_, Bonnie tells him.

"We don't have time for patience."

_Be patient_, she repeats. _Don't get nervous_.

"I'm not nervous," he says, even though he is. And there's no way she isn't. Tyler has no idea what's happening over against the wall but he has to be, too.

_Just relax. You can do this._

"Thanks."

Damon's hand twitches at his side, toward Elena. It reaches the barrier but can't pass through so he leaves it there. Elena drops her hand down next to it and moves her fingers as close as she can. Jeremy isn't sure what happens if Elena's fingers pass over the threshold, if she'll be stuck there or if it only counts if her whole body crosses over.

He tells himself to stop speculating. He's got a job to do.

Elena looks unlikely to move even though Caroline is standing near Tyler, holding his hand.

If he goes fast enough, he can get the heart. Elena might jump on him but he can hold her off, he thinks. He's the one with the advantage. She can't see him.

There's a clatter of movement from the entrance. Stefan appears with a bored looking Klaus in tow.

"We've come to save the day," Klaus remarks.

"They're here," Jeremy says. "Klaus and Stefan are here."

_Do it, Jeremy. Do it and I'll pull you out. _

It's like it's all happening in slow motion. Elena pushes herself to her feet, calling Stefan's name. Jeremy can hear the relief in her voice, see it in her body. Damon is saved. She turns her back to Damon, to him, to the stake hidden by Damon's body and held in Jeremy's invisible hand. Caroline isn't looking. From this angle, Klaus and Stefan can't really see and they're stalled by a frantic Elena.

Jeremy raises the stake.

He does feel weaker but still strong enough. Strong enough to force the pointy end through flesh and skin and bone. Through the heart.

Damon gasps. His hand jumps to his chest but the stake has found its mark. Jeremy watches as Damon's skin goes gray.

"No!"

It could be Elena. It could be Stefan. One of them though Jeremy doesn't know or care who. He can see them out of the corner of his eye. Elena lunges for the doorway but Caroline loops an arm around her waist and yanks her back. Stefan stops right at the edge, collapses to his knees. Damon's head turns, slowly enough for Jeremy to hold on to his eyes though they don't see Jeremy, can't see anything. They don't see Stefan either.

"I did it," he says. "Bonnie, I did it."

He can practically hear her smile.

Then he's back in her room and he can see it.

He holds out his arms and she hugs him, laughing into his neck as he pulls her tight against him.

"We did it," he says into her hair. "Damon's dead."

And they killed him.

Welcome to Mystic Falls where a hybrid, a witch and a hunter killed Damon Salvatore.

* * *

**So it's happened! I hope you're all pleased. I actually started smiling at the end of this chapter.**

**Also, I hope you all caught the reference to the spell Jonas and Luka did in S2. **

**Thank you for reading and reviewing! **


	18. One Down

One Down

Tyler wants to smile, to laugh, to sing even. But he can't. He has to stay with Caroline at the tomb. She's the only one there to comfort both Elena and Stefan. Elena who can't stop crying and Stefan who's staring at Damon's gray, withered face, shocked into silence.

"I suppose I'm no longer needed," Klaus says finally. But before leaving, he looks at Stefan. "I'll be coming to collect on your part in our bargain."

"You didn't save Damon," Caroline points out.

"Not for lack of trying," Klaus says. "I came didn't I? I'll find you later, Stefan."

Stefan doesn't look like he cares.

Tyler pulls out his phone. There's a text waiting there from Bonnie.

A smiley face.

Tyler texts back. _I'll be over as soon as I can. They're in mourning over here._

She replies fast. Put_ on your grieving face._

Stefan speaks. "Can you guys...Can you leave us alone with him please?"

Caroline nods. She looks sad, not for Damon but for Stefan, for Elena. She takes Tyler's hand as she passes and tugs him outside. There, she throws her arms around him. "I can't believe that just happened. We were standing right there."

He worries that if he speaks, he'll say something less than appropriate. Like, _Ding dong, Damon's dead. _But Caroline's doing enough talking for the both of them.

"Whoever did this," she says. "They may come for us next."

"Then we'll figure it out," he says.

"I have to tell Bonnie and Jeremy."

"I'll tell them," he says. "I'll swing by and let them know. You should stay close for Stefan and Elena."

Caroline nods. "Yeah, I'll stick around."

"I'll see you tonight?"

She nods.

Tyler kisses her cheek remembering that Damon hurt her, too. She may be just as happy as he is, hiding it just like he is.

"Be careful," Caroline says. "Very careful. We don't know what they want."

Tyler gets to Bonnie's within minutes. She opens the door before he reaches it and steps aside to let him pass. As soon as she closes the door, she turns around. He's never seen Bonnie smile so hard. When she throws her arms around his neck and hugs him, he starts laughing. Laughing doesn't feel as foreign as it did before. "I can't believe it," he says.

"I told you we were going to do it."

"I know but I still can't...He's dead. Really dead."

Bonnie pulls away from him, still grinning. "Really dead."

"Where's Gilbert?"

On cue, Jeremy comes thundering down the stairs. "Lockwood!" He exclaims. "How's Damon's body looking?"

"Pretty staked," Tyler answers, clapping Jeremy on the back.

"One down," he says. "One more to go. Then we're Salvatore free."

"I'm okay reveling in this one for now," Bonnie says.

"Agreed," Tyler says. "Good work, team."

"I say we celebrate," Bonnie says. "Not tonight," she adds quickly. "But in a few days. Once we're past the required grieving period."

"Does anyone expect us to grieve?" Jeremy asks. "I mean, who's _really_ upset Damon's dead?"

"Elena," Bonnie says. "And Stefan."

"Oh, a whole _two_ people," Tyler says. "The funeral's gonna be packed."

"Won't be a dry eye," Jeremy adds.

Bonnie laughs. "The day before New Year's Eve," she says, "we celebrate. Then we lay low. We'll go after Stefan once it's died down some."

"Died down?" Tyler says. "You think they're going to let this slide?"

"No but they're going to be really wary," Bonnie says. "If they think the trio that did this only wanted Damon dead, they'll start to relax."

"They'll look for them," Jeremy says. "Us."

Bonnie shrugs. "They won't find us. We give it some more time then we go for Stefan."

"Did he seem like he was gonna snap?" Jeremy questions Tyler.

"Hard to say. Caroline and Elena aren't going to let him go Ripper again."

"They might not have a choice."

"Well, we talked about this. If he goes Ripper, we've got a perfect reason to kill him."

"Okay," Jeremy says. "So we take some time off. Postpone the drinking and the dancing until next week."

Tyler and Bonnie both nod.

"But since we're all here," Bonnie says with a slow smile. "I have vodka. Just one shot?"

Like she has to ask.

* * *

Tyler spends most of the week that passes with the hybrids. They lounge around his house like it's theirs and he supposes it is. They raid his fridge several times a day and develop a schedule for who has to buy groceries. They end up having to go to the store several times in only a couple of days. His mom is overwhelmed by all of them but they're polite to her and the ones that never clean up are charming enough that she doesn't mind, and the ones that always clean, clean up after them.

Caroline spends most of her time with Elena. And Bonnie is with them. He can't imagine what that's like, holding Elena and watching her cry knowing Damon's dead because of them and not feeling bad about it. The first night Caroline let him know she was going to be with Bonnie and Elena all day, he'd texted Bonnie to ask her how she felt.

She said she felt fine.

He wonders if she feels guilty now that they can see the results of their work. Him and Jeremy don't have to deal with it. Tyler rarely saw Elena when both Salvatores were alive and Jeremy gets to keep his distance. Bonnie's the one who has no choice.

The hybrids are going out. To drink or break things or whatever it is they like to do. Kim's good at keeping them in line when he's not there and he's told her not to let them kill anyone. They can feed but they have strict orders to compel and heal their marks when they're done. They all find this an easy rule to follow.

"You could just come with us," Kim says.

"Not up for it tonight. And Caroline's coming over."

"She can come, too."

They've warmed up to Caroline a lot, too.

"No thanks," he says. "Have a drink for me."

"I'll have two," she says. "So that vampire that died...Was he a friend of yours?"

"No one's friend," he answers. "Just someone's boyfriend and someone's brother." If Damon were to have a tombstone, he wishes it would say that.

Kim looks at him like she understands. He doubts she suspects any kind of involvement on Tyler's part. Even if she does, she won't say anything. He's her Alpha and it's not like she cares about Damon or Stefan anyway. "Then we'll see you when we get back."

"Have a good night," he calls after her. "Don't do anything I wouldn't do!"

One of them laughs and he can't tell which one. It might have been Bryant. "So no limits, guys!"

Tyler shakes his head but he's laughing as they all file out together. Adrian with an arm thrown around Sabrina's shoulders, flirting shamelessly. Cora and Lana admiring each other's shoes. He can't describe how much he cares for them. He's not sure if it's because he's Alpha or if it's always been there but when he watches them go, he really does hope they have a good time.

The door slams shut and he dials Bonnie. She answers on the third ring. "How's your conscience?" he asks.

"My conscience is perfectly fine," she says. "It was just Damon. How's it over at your place?"

"Empty at the moment," he answers. "The hybrids are partying tonight."

"You didn't go with them?"

"No, since we're doing our thing tomorrow I figure I should spend tonight appearing responsible and level headed."

Bonnie laughs loudly. "That doesn't sound like you."

"Sounds like an Alpha."

"So I guess it does sound like you."

Tyler grins. "How was it today?"

"Same as yesterday," she sighs. "And the day before that. Elena's…sad."

"Is the bond broken?"

"Can't tell," she says. "I guess we'll know for sure once she's calmed down. Klaus came to the boarding house today."

"What did he want?"

"He was collecting on his deal with Stefan," Bonnie explains. "Apparently he was doing Stefan a solid by letting him mourn for a few days first."

"What did Stefan have to give him?"

"Don't know," she says. "In other news, you're welcome to stop by tonight if you're not doing anything. Me and Jeremy are going to watch some movies. Whenever he's done working out."

"He's working out?"

"He's been doing it for _hours_," Bonnie sighs. "And he just keeps going. And going. And going."

"Well, as fun as that sounds," Tyler says, "Caroline's coming over."

At that, someone rings the doorbell and Tyler knows it's her. "She's here. I gotta go. See you tomorrow."

"Bye."

Tyler goes to the door and opens it. "Hello, boyfriend," Caroline says cheerily.

"Hello, girlfriend." He leans in so she can press a kiss to his lips. "How was your day?"

"Long," she says. She leads him into the living room which looks emptier and cleaner than it's been in awhile. "How was yours?"

"Boring."

"Stefan wants to find them," Caroline says, dropping down on the sofa, "the hybrid and the witch and the other one. That's better than him going all Rippery but we have no idea where to start. I think he's hoping they'll try something else."

"Has he considered that Damon was their only target?"

"At this point, I think he's hoping they'll try for him, too."

To Tyler it seems it's obvious that Stefan should be looking at him. Him and Bonnie. A hybrid and a witch. Maybe it's only obvious because he knows the truth. But he doesn't get it. Do they trust them that much? Does Stefan, who sold Chris out so easily, trust Tyler that much? Does Stefan believe that Bonnie, whose mother Damon turned, is on their side? Are they even an option? Probably not. They're just Bonnie and Tyler. All they can do is sit back and watch while the Salvatore brothers ruin their lives and still help them when they need it.

Elena and Stefan must be the pair of the most exhausting people on the planet because Caroline falls asleep within minutes, her head in Tyler's lap. He texts Bonnie to tell her about Stefan's hopes to find them.

_I wish him luck with that, _she responds.

Tyler smiles down at his phone and asks her if they started watching that movie yet.

* * *

The next night they're back at the same bar. The Christmas music isn't playing anymore but nestled among the Top 40 hits is the occasional New Year song. It's not like any of them are listening anyway. Bonnie's got another fruity drink in front of her and she's constantly sipping from her straw and Jeremy and Tyler each have an ice cold beer.

"Well, team," Tyler says, "I think we should be very proud of ourselves," Tyler says.

"We are," Bonnie says. She certainly is.

"We are," Jeremy echoes. "One down."

One down.

"We should get tattoos or something," Bonnie says. "That say that. One down."

Tyler and Jeremy laugh and she knows they're laughing at her but she doesn't mind it. "That's one strong cocktail," Jeremy comments.

"Not strong enough," Bonnie says. She passes him some cash. "Get me another one?" She's still got some left but that'll be gone soon.

"You got it."

"Thank you," she calls after him as he slides off his chair to approach the bar.

Tyler's looking at her pointedly when she meets his eyes. "What?" she says.

"He's so in love with you," Tyler says. "

Bonnie looks down at the icy, rose colored contents of her glass to avoid looking him in the eye. "No, he's not."

"Keep telling yourself that, Bennett."

"I will," she says. "Got any other observations you'd like to share?"

"Actually," he says, leaning forward to rest his elbows on the table, "I do. I know you don't like it when I rag on Elena but just let me say one thing."

"And then nothing else?"

Tyler nods, resigned. "Then nothing else."

"Ever?"

He hesitates on that one but then he nods again. "Ever."

Bonnie looks at him. "I'm listening."

"I just think you should consider whether or not this…thing with her-"

"My friendship with her?"

"If you want to call it that," Tyler says.

"That's what it is."

"No, it's not. I'm friends with Gilbert. If some guy were to punch him in the face right now, I'd get up and I'd kick that guy's ass. I mean, Jeremy can probably kick ass by himself but that's not the point."

Yes, Jeremy can definitely kick ass by himself. Bonnie spent a grand portion of last night watching him do a variety of exercises in her living room. The most vivid recollection if of him doing pull ups in the door to her bedroom. She takes another sip of her drink.

"If someone hurt Gilbert, I'd hurt them. If someone hurt _you_, I'd hurt them."

She smiles. "Are you calling me a friend, Lockwood?"

When Tyler smiles, it takes over his whole face. "Yes, Bennett, I'm calling you a friend."

"How sweet."

"We killed Damon Salvatore together. If that doesn't forge an unbreakable bond between us, then I don't know what does."

"Well, you'd think me putting Klaus in your body would."

"Yeah, you'd think that," he agrees. "The point is the last time Damon and Stefan hurt you Elena didn't do anything."

She knows why he doesn't like Elena but he doesn't know her the way Bonnie does. Tyler doesn't know it was Elena who Bonnie turned to when her dad became distant and started road tripping a lot. And he doesn't know it was Elena that talked Bonnie through her first date when she was fifteen and her first kiss a few months later. Or how Bonnie has never been without Elena before.

"Bonnie," Tyler says, "I trust you with my life. You and Gilbert. And Jeremy can trust me. You've already proven that he can trust you. And Elena can trust you, too."

"So…what are you saying?"

"I'm saying you can trust me and Gilbert with your life. But can you trust Elena? If it came down to you and Stefan or you and Damon - may he burn in hell - who would she pick?"

"It's not that simple."

"But it is," Tyler insists.

"If someone asked you to choose between Caroline and your mom," Bonnie says. "Who would you pick?"

"That's different."

"How?"

"My mom never turned Caroline's mom into a vampire and Caroline's never terrorized any of my friends or compelled them to have sex with her. That's what's different," Tyler says. He takes a quick swig of his beer. Maybe this whole thing is making him thirsty.

"Damon and Stefan aren't good people," he continues. "If someone asked me to choose between Caroline and my mom, I'd kill myself because I wouldn't be able to pick. Same thing if someone asked me to choose between you and Caroline. Or you and Gilbert. I wouldn't be able to choose. But Elena would be because she's chosen before. She's your first choice, Bonnie, but you're not hers."

Bonnie opens her mouth to speak but Tyler interrupts. "Just one more thing then I'm done," he promises.

She nods.

"I know I'm annoying you," he says, "but I just…it bothers me. A lot. But I'm done now and I won't mention her again. Ever. I swear."

"Okay," Bonnie says. She hears him, even if he thinks she doesn't. She just thinks he's wrong. "For the record, I do trust Elena. You just don't know her like I do."

Tyler draws back, drums his fingers on the tabletop. "I hope you're right. I'm just looking out for you, Bennett. Like you're looking out for me."

Her gaze drops to the bracelet on his wrist. It looks stupid with his nice button down and expensive jeans but he's wearing it. She reaches out to touch one of the shells and it feels smooth beneath her fingers.

"When are you going to tell me what this thing is for?" Tyler asks.

"I told you what it's for," Bonnie says, letting it go and leaning back in her chair. "Protection."

"From what?"

Welcome to Mystic Falls, where there are lots of things to be protected from.

Bonnie swallows and doesn't answer. Instead she turns her attention to Jeremy, who returns with Bonnie's drink and second beers for him and Tyler. "What did I miss?"

* * *

Tyler returns to the manor, a little wobbly on his feet but otherwise fine. It was a good night, even with the tense conversation with Bonnie. If he'd pissed her off, she didn't act like it once they started dancing again then it was just a repeat of the other night. Taking shots and grinding like a single person on the dance floor. He approaches the front door and fishes out his keys. As he's fumbling, Klaus steps into the light of the porch lamp.

"Good evening, Tyler," he says. He's in a suit for some reason and his hands are behind his back. "Where have you been tonight?"

"What are you doing here, Klaus?" Tyler sighs. "Don't you have a mansion of your own?"

Klaus smiles. "We have business, you and I."

"Yeah?"

"Yes. I have something you should see."

Klaus starts walking and Tyler knows he's now expected to follow. He groans and slips his keys back into his pocket "Quite a shame what happened to Damon," the Original says as they cross the property together.

"Yes, quite," Tyler echoes dully.

"You don't sound too broken up about it."

"Are you?"

Klaus smiles. Sometimes he does that, acts like they're friends. Tyler hates it. "To be honest, this town does seem a bit…_better_ without Damon in it. Though I do hate to see a friend so saddened."

"You're talking about Stefan."

"Yes," Klaus answers.

Tyler realizes Klaus is leading him to the cellar. "What's down here, Klaus?"

"You'll see."

Tyler pauses at the steps, thinks of Bonnie and Jeremy back at her house, flirting and laughing and probably drinking again. Bonnie said he should come in with them, stay awhile longer, cap off the night with one more shot, a toast to Damon's death. He's learned that Klaus never has anything good to share and he wishes he'd stayed with Bonnie and Jeremy. But he follows Klaus down.

At first, it doesn't occur to him what the smell is. He's still back in the bar with the smell of alcohol, Bonnie's perfume and sweat. The scent of blood takes a moment to reach him.

It's not human.

Not vampire. Not werewolf.

Hybrid.

The first one he sees is Bryant with his head twisted all the way around and there's a hole in his chest. Next to him is Lana, in the same condition. Their hearts lie next to them in tiny pools of blood. They're all there.

Bryant. Lana. Steven. Jack. Adrian. Cora. Sabrina. Chase. Kevin. Casey. Hope.

And Kim.

And their hearts. Everywhere.

Tyler didn't know hybrids were able to puke but he does. His stomach keeps heaving even after it's empty. And then he's crying and his whole body feels hot and he can't breathe. He falls next to Kim. There's a line of blood at the corner of her mouth. Her eyes stare upward without seeing. Gently, he touches her hair, her icy cheek, remembers the last time he was down here with all of them, when he became the Alpha.

When he told them he could protect them.

When he lied.

"Why did you do this?" he chokes. "Why did you do this to them?"

Klaus crouches down next to him. He picks up Kim's heart. Or at least Tyler thinks it's hers. He balances it in his palm and then drops it on the ground where it makes a sick, squishing sound.

"You see, Tyler, when I went to that tomb to save Damon's life, Stefan agreed to give me something," Klaus says. "Information that I would find…_interesting_."

Stefan. Stefan didn't know anything. Tyler hadn't told Stefan anything.

"He told me that you've been unsiring my hybrids," Klaus says. He leans close and Tyler flinches. "And that you're an Alpha now." When Klaus' hand lands on his shoulder, Tyler shuts his eyes and wills himself to breathe.

"Can you be an Alpha without a pack?"

_No,_ Tyler thinks.

Klaus squeezes and Tyler hears the bone in his shoulder crack. Hears it more than feels it because all he feels is numb.

"I thought there was a…connection of sorts between us," Klaus says. "You were my first successful hybrid. I took such pride in you. In all of you. Now look where we are. Is an Alpha still an Alpha if he doesn't have a heart?"

_No_.

Tyler thinks of Hayley, dead and in the ground not too far from here. He'll be joining her soon. He'll be with his pack soon. He barely gasps when Klaus plunges his hand into his chest and wraps his fingers around Tyler's pounding heart. When he squeezes, Tyler thinks of Kim and those two drinks she promised to have for him last night. And when his heart's being yanked out, he sees the rest of the pack. Bryant. Lana. Steven. Jack. Adrian. Cora. Sabrina. Chase. Kevin. Casey. Hope.

He sees Caroline. He sees his mom.

His heart in Klaus' hand.

Then nothing.

* * *

**So yes Damon is totally and completely dead. No twists, no turns, no surprises. He's not coming back.**

**Also, I have so many pack feelings. But I think in the show, Tyler gaining a pack and then losing it the way he did was a huge part of his characterization and is going to really have an effect on him. Or at least I hope it will but this show lets me down 90% of the time so at least we'll have fic to fall back on. That being said, I guess it's fairly obvious Tyler's not gonna stay dead (though he is totally dead right now). **

**Thank you for reading and reviewing! **


	19. Protection

**So I'm wondering if I should change the rating to M. There's nothing super M related in this chapter (it gets a little suggestive but nothing more than that really) but I mean, it could happen down the line. So I'm considering that just to let you know. Anyway, thank you for your reviews! **

* * *

Protection

Jeremy allows Bonnie to pull him into the house, their fingers are laced together though he's not sure when she started holding his hand. It might have happened in the cab after they dropped Tyler off at his house or maybe it happened sooner than that but he's not complaining. And he's definitely not complaining when she threads her fingers through his hair and kisses him.

She says nothing, not a word when she stops kissing him but she keeps her hands on either side of his neck. He's very aware of her fingers, small and warm and touching him.

"Should we….talk?" Jeremy asks. "About-"

_About Anna_.

"No," she says. "I don't want to."

He's disappointed. It feels like it won't count, none of this will count until they do. There's so much he wants to say. There's never been a right time and apparently this one isn't right either. Jeremy's not nearly as drunk as he could be and Bonnie's sobered up a lot herself. But if this doesn't go well, they'll both blame it on the alcohol.

"So what do you want to do?" he asks.

Bonnie sighs and draws her hands from his neck, to his chest where she grips the front of his shirt. "We killed Damon." She looks at him and the corner of her mouth is turned upward, her eyes shine.

"Yeah."

"We did something good."

"Yeah," he repeats.

"We should celebrate."

He grins because she considers kissing him a means of celebrating. "Okay," he says. "Let's celebrate."

Bonnie smiles before she kisses him again. She pulls him with her toward the couch and when she touches his shoulders, to ease him down, he holds her waist. She's warm and he remembers the feel of her back at the bar, her arms around his neck, singing along to dumb songs in his ear. She hums against his lips as she straddles him, inhales when his hand slides up the back of her shirt, ghosting across her skin to find the clasp of her bra. When one of hers finds his belt and she tugs it loose, he takes in a sharp breath and forgets what he was doing.

Bonnie laughs softly. Even though she's laughing at him, he loves it. She can make fun of him whenever she wants, for however long she wants, at whatever she wants. He doesn't care as long as she keeps kissing him, keeps touching him. She works at the button, pulls down the zipper. Her hand brushes against his stomach, which flips at the contact, at the promise of where her hand is going, where _they_ are going. Her fingers slip past the waistband of his underwear.

She stops. Her hand falls to his thigh and she stares in the other direction, her face blank.

"Bonnie?" Jeremy asks. "Are you okay?"

She pushes herself off of him. Jeremy reluctantly releases her. His hand feels cold outside of her shirt. "It's Tyler," she says as she adjusts her skirt.

_"Tyler_?" Why are they talking about Tyler when she was two seconds away from having her hand wrapped around him?

"We have to go get him."

Jeremy blinks. "Go get him from where? What's wrong?"

"He's at the Lockwood cellar," she says, spinning around, searching for her keys. "He's dead."

* * *

The cellar is flooded with death. Bonnie feels it before they get down there. The hybrids are scattered throughout the room, with their hearts several feet away. There's only blood and bodies and vital organs. Nothing alive is there. Nothing but her and Jeremy.

Tyler is near the front of the space. He lies at a twisted angle, his legs folded underneath him where he lies on his back. His eyes are still open. She can make out the darker stain on his already dark shirt, see the ragged tear and the dark hole in his chest. Where his heart used to be.

"Klaus," Jeremy says.

Bonnie nods. "Most likely." Klaus was on the list before but now he's _really _on it.

"What are we gonna do?"

It seems like days have passed since they were kissing on her couch with his hand up her shirt and their lips practically melded together. Now Tyler's dead and they're standing in the cellar with the bodies of a dozen hybrids and their hearts. She'd felt warm and electric and excited back home but now all she feels is cold.

She crouches down next to Tyler's body and fingers the bracelet around his wrist.

_Protection._

_From what?_

Bonnie turns to Jeremy. "First, I'm going to bring him back. I need to find his heart but you can take him out to the car."

He doesn't question it. He hesitates slightly but gently closes Tyler's eyes. He picks Tyler up and carries him out easily. Bonnie stays behind. Picking Tyler's heart out of the ones on the floor is difficult but her magic helps. Thank God Klaus didn't take it with him.

Just like in her dream, she touches it without a reaction. She cradles it in her palms, back to the car where Jeremy's waiting. The whole time she tries not to look at the other hybrids who she can't help. She doesn't know any of their names. But she knows Tyler's name. She can still help Tyler.

Jeremy looks down at the heart, his lips pressed together in a firm line. She can't tell if he's disgusted or just angry. Probably a bit of both. "Now what?"

"There's a plastic bag in the backseat," she says. "Will you hand it to me?"

He does. She wraps the heart in it and places it delicately next to Tyler. Then she starts rifling through his pockets until she finds his keys.

"Take his car," she says. "Go to Radley's bar. There's a man there. I'm sending you his picture." She scrolls through them as she talks and finds the right one to send to Jeremy's phone. "We need him."

"For what?"

"For the spell," Bonnie answers. "He won't come willingly. Be discreet."

Jeremy takes the keys. "What kind of spell are you doing?"

"One that will save Tyler's life."

"Why do you need this other guy?"

Bonnie sighs. There's no point in lying. "It requires a human sacrifice. He's the sacrifice."

"You're going to _kill_ him? He's human."

"Trust me," Bonnie says. "He's hardly human."

"Bonnie, you can use me," Jeremy says. "You don't need this other guy."

"I'm not going to risk losing you both," she says. "And if you keep dying, you're going to end up like Alaric. I'm not using you, I'm using _him_. So go get him and bring him back to my house."

Jeremy looks like he might protest but he finally sighs. "Okay. I'll bring him back as soon as I can." He takes another look at Tyler and closes the back door. She can see the weight on his shoulders as he walks toward the Lockwood mansion. They were light and happy and celebrating not too long ago. How did everything get so dark and gloomy? How did Tyler lose his heart?

Bonnie takes Tyler back. She has to levitate his body in through the back door, carrying his heart in her other hand. She puts him upstairs in her room where she places him on her bed, on top of the lavender colored sheets.

For a moment, she stares at him. It wasn't even an hour ago when she last saw him. He'd been so alive then. Laughing and talking with them, an undead heart pounding away in his chest. And now his heart is in Bonnie's hand, in a plastic bag.

Bonnie sets the bag on top of her dresser. She unbuttons Tyler's shirt with steady fingers. There's nothing to worry about. Tyler's going to be fine in a few hours. She gets him out of the shirt, throws it in the trash and tries not to look at the hole in his chest. She'll have to look at it later but she can't bring herself to do that yet.

Next she takes out the candles and lights them all. She gets a bowl of water that she places on the nightstand.

Jeremy's not back yet.

It's late but she calls Shane anyway. Sitting there alone with Tyler, knowing his dead, is a lonely feeling. Her house has always been empty but she's never realized just how empty. With Jeremy gone, with Tyler really, truly dead. She's alone.

"Bonnie?" He says groggily. "What's going on?"

"I'm about to do a spell," she says. "It requires a human sacrifice."

"You're _what_?" She can picture him rolling over in bed, flicking on a light. She wonders if he sleeps in his office sometimes, or if he has an apartment close to campus filled with books on the occult and weird supernatural objects.

"I don't have a choice," she says. "If I don't, my friend dies."

She can hear him moving around on the other end. "Bonnie, you're going to _kill_ someone."

"He's no one," she says. "Just a rapist slash murderer who's never gotten what he deserves. I know what I'm doing and what it means. I just need some reassurance."

"Reassurance?"

"Just tell me I'm going to do fine."

For a moment she thinks Shane's going to tell her not to do it. She's a teenager. She can't just _kill _a man because she thinks she has to. And Shane's a professor. She should prepare herself for a lecture. Instead he says, "You're going to do fine. You're a Bennett witch, Bonnie. You're not the first to do something like this. You're going to be fine."

Abby did it. And she really did kill someone. She didn't use someone like Jeremy, someone with a ring. She killed someone. Bonnie wishes she could call her.

From downstairs she hears the door slam.

"I have to go," she says. "My sacrifice is here."

"Okay," Shane says. "You're a gifted witch, Bonnie. You're going to save your friend. Let me know how it goes."

"I will. Sorry for waking you."

Jeremy's coming up the stairs.

"It's fine," he says. "I'm happy to help you, however I can. Good luck, Bonnie."

"Bye."

Jeremy comes into the room with the man over his shoulder. He's unconscious and even though he's got to be at least a hundred pounds heavier than Jeremy, he carries him effortlessly.

"On the floor," she says, putting the phone on her desk.

He places him there.

"What's his name?" Jeremy asks.

"I don't know."

"You don't know his name?"

"I don't need to know his name for the spell."

Jeremy looks surprised by that but he doesn't say anything about it. He stands near the door, so he's out of her way. "Do you need me to do anything?"

"No," she says. "I've got everything I need."

"Can I stay?"

"I'd rather you did," she says.

"So, what are you gonna do? How are you…I mean, Tyler's definitely dead, right?"

Bonnie nods. She touches Tyler's face and sighs at how cold he is. "I gave him a bracelet," she says. "I saw this in a vision."

"Saw…this?"

"Saw him dead," she says. "Without his heart. The bracelet kept his life force tethered to him. With it, I can bring him back. I can put his heart back."

"But this guy's gotta die for you to do it," Jeremy says.

"Yes," she says she dips her hands into the water. She takes Tyler's heart from the bag once they're wet. She stands next to him and lowers her gaze to his chest, to the space his heart used to occupy.

_You're a Bennett witch_, she thinks. _You're not the first to do this_.

In all her life she never wanted to, or dreamed she would, put her hand inside the chest of another person. And even if she did think she'd do this, she never thought it would be Tyler Lockwood she'd be doing it to. And it certainly wouldn't be happening on her bed. Her hand stays very still as she releases the heart. She doesn't need precision, it'll put itself in the right spot, reconnect itself to all the important parts once she starts working.

When she withdraws her hand, she catches Jeremy's eye. She doesn't think she looks particularly freaked out but she must because he nods his head encouragingly. "You're doing great," he says. He can't know that either way but she smiles weakly at him anyway.

She knows he's scared, too. She's not the only one who spent most of tonight with a very alive Tyler.

Bonnie lowers herself to floor next to the man. Now she _is _wondering what his name is. She tells herself to focus on the vision she had when she touched him. The women he murdered. All of them, not just the one he got that pathetic prison sentence for. If there's someone in her room who deserves to die, it's him.

She places her hands over his heart and closes her eyes. _Send this life away_. Her magic latches around the organ and tightens. Squeezing. She tells it to die. Again and again and again. She wills his heart to give out and fade. It wasn't the healthiest but it would have stayed strong for many more years if she'd let it. But now that she has a hold on it, she's not letting go.

Below her, the man gasps and Bonnie opens her eyes. He's awake but he can't speak and he can't move. His body stiffens, he flexes his fingers. The veins in his neck are taut and his eyes are wide. If he could, he'd wrap his hands around her throat and choke the life out of her, anything to make her let him go. Does he recognize her? From that night she found him at the bar? She can't tell and he's unable to tell her. The candles flicker.

Bonnie closes her eyes again, feels the electric rush. It's a rolling, brilliant feeling. Life and death coursing through her. It's warm and cold all at once, exhilarating and comforting. There's power there, in her hands. She tells herself she's not a killer, she knows she's not even as she takes this man's life. The resistance leaves him, his body goes slack. She's doing what she has to.

"Bonnie?" Jeremy says. He sounds concerned.

She doesn't answer him until the feeling has passed. Her eyes flutter open and she looks down at the man beneath her. He's still. Her magic finds a heart that no longer beats.

"What?" she asks Jeremy.

He shake his head slightly. "Nothing. Are you okay?"

Bonnie nods. "I'm fine. Take him out of here," she says, gesturing to the dead body on the floor. She thinks it's supposed to bother her more, that it's there, but it doesn't. But when Tyler wakes up, she doesn't want him to have to see it.

"What do you want me to do with him?"

"Put him downstairs. I'll deal with the body later."

Jeremy obeys while Bonnie sits at Tyler's side. She touches his hands first, holds each one in between hers until they're warmer. When that's done, she places them at his sides again. Jeremy comes back as she places her left hand on Tyler's forehead and her right on his stomach. He's so cold.

She knows he's always been. He's undead, after all. But there was always life underneath it. He was always moving. Now there's nothing.

Bonnie takes a deep breath. She's halfway there. She moves her hand from his stomach to his chest, placing it over his replaced heart.

_Call this life back._

"Tyler," she says. Her voice cracks.

"Tyler," she says again. "Come back."

On the nightstand she sees the water in the bowl turning on its own. A tiny whirlpool forms in its center as it speeds up.

"Tyler," she repeats. It has to work. It has no choice but to work. "_Come back_."

The candles flare, Jeremy curses, the candles go out.

* * *

Kim is there. Kim and Hayley both. The rest of the pack too. All of them. They sit with Tyler in his living room, laughing and talking. None of them seem to mind the empty spaces in their chests. He's laughing, too.

Then he's not.

_Tyler_.

There's a pain in his chest. It grips him tight and brings him to his knees. He doesn't know what's hurting him because there's nothing there anymore. Still his hand leaps to his chest and he doesn't feel the jagged, empty crevice Klaus created. He feels skin and bone and beneath it, a strong heart. He looks up at Hayley. She's stopped laughing but she's still smiling.

_Come back._

Hayley is gone and Bonnie is above him.

They're in her bedroom and he's on her bed. One of her hands is on his forehead and the other sits on his chest. She takes that one away and he sees he's healed. Perfectly and completely.

Behind her, Jeremy is there and he sighs with relief, smiles as he sits down on the other side of the bed.

"What did you do?" he asks. His voice comes out rough. His throat feels dry.

Bonnie's smiling, too. And he thinks she might also be trying not to cry as she hugs him. "I told you I'd protect you, Lockwood."

* * *

**Next chapter you'll see how the trio reacts to Stefan's (and also Caroline's, as most of you figured) involvement in what happened and also Tyler's reaction to what Bonnie did to bring him back. I hope to have it up very quickly so you won't have long to wait. **


	20. Lines

Lines

Bonnie insists Tyler take one of her dad's old t-shirts to replace the button-down she threw away. He puts it on and Bonnie asks him tons of questions while Jeremy leaves to get blood from the manor and to check on Tyler's mom. He likes to think Klaus would have stopped his rage fest with him and the pack, but he doesn't know for sure.

No matter what Tyler says, Bonnie remains relentless in her questioning. How does he feel? Does he feel different? Does he need anything? Is he comfortable? Can she get him something else? She doesn't ask him _what_ happened. She says they went and got him from the cellar so they must have seen the other hybrids, the pack he used to have. She's probably avoiding it so she doesn't upset him.

"Lay down," she says. "Rest."

"Bonnie, I feel fine," he says but he lets her throw a blanket over his lap even though he doesn't need it. "You still haven't answered my question."

"What question?"

"What did you do? Klaus ripped my heart out."

"And I put it back," she says with a shrug.

_And she put it back_.

"Well that doesn't sound difficult or impressive at all," he says. He lifts his arm to show off the shell bracelet. "This little thing do that?"

"It made it possible," she corrects, sitting down next to him and reaching for his hand. "I'm sorry about the pack."

Bryant. Lana. Steven. Jack. Adrian. Cora. Sabrina. Chase. Kevin. Casey. Hope. Kim.

Tyler sighs as he leans back against her pillows, keeping the loose hold on her hand. "He found out they'd all broken their sire bonds and that I was the Alpha."

Can't be an Alpha without a pack.

"How?"

"Stefan," he says.

"You're sure?"

"That's the information Stefan had for him. In exchange for Klaus saving Damon, Stefan gave me and my pack up. Got them all killed."

Bonnie squeezes his hand.

"He didn't have to do that," Tyler says. His voice cracks. "He could have told him _anything._ Damon was already dead. They didn't have to die."

Bonnie puts her arms around him when he starts crying. She's warm and he hasn't fed but he swallows down the thirst. Jeremy will be back with the blood any minute and it's Bonnie. She put his heart back even if he's not sure how. He can control himself long enough to hug her.

She whispers in his ear. "Neither of them will get away with it."

He hears Jeremy come in downstairs and Tyler pulls away from her to wipe his eyes. When he comes in, Jeremy's carrying several blood bags and doesn't seem to notice.

"Your mom's fine," he says. "I didn't tell her anything. Just that you were busy but needed blood."

It would probably be better to hold off the explanations for tomorrow. "Thanks."

"Do you want me to call Caroline? Tell her to come over?" Bonnie asks. She says it softly. The leap to figuring out who told Stefan everything he was able to tell Klaus isn't hard to make. He knows it. Bonnie knows it. As soon as one of them tells Jeremy, he'll know it. But still, Tyler can't say no outright. He hesitates and swallows down the blood.

"No," he says finally. "I don't want to see her yet."

"Should I tell her what happened at least?"

A bitter part of him wants her to. He wants Caroline to know what happened and know that he doesn't want to see her because he blames her. He wants her to know she played a part in this and he wants her to feel bad. He remembers when she said she was on his side. It wasn't that long ago.

But he sighs. "Not yet. We have to figure out what to do first."

It feels like neither of them really knows what to do with that particular piece of information. At this point, neither of them expects much from Stefan. But they still expect things from Caroline. And he knows she wouldn't have told Stefan if she'd known he'd do this. But Caroline is blind when it comes to Stefan. She sees the Stefan that taught her how to be a vampire, a decent vampire, the Stefan that saved her life. A troubled but ultimately _good_ Stefan. Somehow everything else Stefan is, a killer and a Ripper, just slides off her.

"If Klaus finds out you're alive he might try again," Jeremy says.

"So we keep it quiet for now," he says. Caroline thought he was dead once before, for a little while at least. He doesn't know how long it'll last this time. "Just until we figure something out."

"We'll worry about it tomorrow," Bonnie says. "I'm going to change." She goes through her drawers, pulls out a pair of jeans and a sweatshirt and leaves.

Jeremy lingers. "Feeling okay?"

Tyler nods. "Yeah."

"I'm sorry about the others," he says.

"Me too."

"We're gonna kill Klaus." Jeremy's not as good with the comforting as Bonnie is but his way helps, too.

Welcome to Mystic Falls where suggesting to kill someone is a viable way to make a friend feel better.

"Stefan first," Tyler says. He explains what Klaus told him.

"So Caroline…."

"Yeah."

"I'm sorry," Jeremy says again. What else is there to say really? I'm sorry your girlfriend told Stefan Salvatore all your business and Stefan proceeded to tell the one person in this town with the means to wipe out the entire pack. That's all there is.

"You should get some rest," Jeremy says. "I'm gonna go check on Bonnie."

"Was it a big spell?"

"Yeah, I guess."

"Is she okay?" He remembers Bonnie's nosebleeds and when she pretended to pass out in the tomb. They don't need that happening for real.

"I think so. She had a source to tap into," Jeremy explains. "So I think she's fine." Tyler wonders if she'd tell them if she wasn't. Maybe the same thing occurs to Jeremy because he leaves with a weird look on his face.

He tries to sleep, the way Bonnie and Jeremy told him to. But being brought back from death must have energized him a bit. He's not tired and he's thinking too much. He thinks about the pack, Caroline, Stefan, Klaus, Bonnie. Lying in bed, he fiddles with the bracelet around his wrist and tugs gently at the small shells. He touches his chest, where his undead heart beats.

_I put it back_.

Tyler gives up on sleeping. He goes downstairs but Bonnie and Jeremy aren't there. He hears them out in the backyard and he follows their voices. He's sure Bonnie will reprimand him for being out of bed as he goes out the back door. At first he's not sure what they're doing. Jeremy drops something large onto the ground and Bonnie waves her hands and the earth opens up into a well defined hole. Then Jeremy's rolling the large something into that hole. It takes Tyler a moment to catch the scent.

Human. Dead.

"What are you doing?" he asks. "Who is that?"

Bonnie and Jeremy turn around, noticing him for the first time. They exchange looks.

"Tyler-" Jeremy begins but Bonne stops him.

"I'll tell him," she says. She waves her hands again and the hole refills itself. The ground returns to its original state, with no sign of something being amiss or a body being buried there. She comes onto the porch and stands directly in front of him. Jeremy hangs back on the steps, watching warily. "The spell required a human sacrifice."

It takes him a minute to understand.

"A _sacrifice?_ You mean you killed someone?"

"Yes."

Bonnie steps around him and goes back into the house. With a look at Jeremy, who seems content with not saying a word, Tyler follows her. "Bonnie, we're not killers."

She makes a sound that sounds almost like laughter. "Let's ask Damon what he thinks about that."

Bonnie may have just made a joke.

"You know what I mean."

Bonnie stops walking and turns around. She looks exhausted. "I get what you're saying. But I can't undo it and I wouldn't even if I could."

Jeremy comes in behind them and closes the door. He doesn't say anything but he perches on the arm of the couch, listening. Tyler wonders if he'll jump in at some point.

"We can't make these decisions, Bonnie. We don't get to decide who lives and who dies."

"I did it for _you_."

"You shouldn't have. That guy could have had a life that we just..._took_."

He could have been like Hayley and the rest of the pack.

Elena's the one who lets people die for her.

"We have to draw lines," he says. "We killed Damon and we're gonna kill Stefan because they're willing to sacrifice whoever they have to for Elena, or each other. Then you go and you kill that guy for _me_?"

"I drew a line and I drew it at us!"

Tyler's never heard Bonnie raise her voice before. He realizes now he wasn't entirely certain she was capable of it. But she definitely is.

"We killed Damon and we're gonna kill Stefan because they're willing to sacrifice innocent people, people we care about. No one cared about that guy and he was _far_ from innocent."

"You don't know that."

"Yes, I do," she counters. "Because I saw it. You think I just picked some random person off the street? I saw this happening _days_ ago. And I saw him. I was supposed to kill him because he was supposed to die. Just like you were supposed to live." She grabs her bag and slings it over her shoulder like she's going somewhere.

"He was _nothing_," she says. "I did a lot of people a favor by killing him, you included. So you're welcome." She turns to the door, pulls it open.

Jeremy has the presence of mind to ask. "Where are you going?"

"Out," she answers. "You two stay here." She goes out the door and it slams behind her without her touching it.

* * *

Jeremy looks at Tyler after Bonnie's gone. He wants to go after her but maybe she just needs to be by herself. She killed a man tonight after all. And brought another one back to life. And the living one doesn't seem too grateful for it.

"What's wrong with you?" Jeremy asks.

Tyler makes an incredulous face. "What?"

"She actually had your heart in her _hand_. Her actual hand."

"You don't see a problem here?"

"No, I don't," Jeremy says. "I mean, I did." He really did. She could just use him, after all. His ring still works and they'd get the same result: Tyler alive.

"She sent me to get him from Radley's," he explains. "When I got there, he was at the bar being a total dick to this table full of women. They told him to fuck off but he just kept going and he was looking at them like…." He shakes his head slightly, remembering being angry and hearing Bonnie's voice in his head: _He's hardly human_.

"He wasn't a good guy," he says finally. "It came down to you or him and she chose you. I would have chosen you, too. You should be glad she did."

"I am," Tyler insists. "You think I'd rather be dead?"

"That's pretty much what you said," Jeremy points out.

Tyler falls down onto the couch. "Why did we kill Damon?"

"It's not the same."

"It isn't?" He obviously thinks it's pretty similar.

"No," Jeremy says. "The people Damon and Stefan killed were good people. Maybe even better than us. They didn't deserve to die."

Jenna certainly didn't. But that was Klaus' fault he supposes. Vicki hadn't been perfect but she didn't deserve to die how she had either, with a stake in her heart because Damon decided turning her would be a good time.

"The guy we just buried," Jeremy says, "wasn't like them."

Jeremy can't tell if Tyler's on his way to getting over it or not. They just sit there, in Bonnie's silent house. It's weird to be there without her. For a moment he wonders if he should say anything about what happened to her in her room, what he saw for just a few seconds. Finally, he decides.

"When she did the spell, something happened."

"What do you mean?" Tyler asks.

"I think – I might just be stupid but I thought I saw the veins in her face turn black."

"What do you mean?" Tyler repeats.

"I mean they were black."

"So what does that mean?"

Tyler asks like he expects Jeremy to have an answer. "In my experience, nothing good."

"You have experience with witches and black veins?"

Jeremy glares at him. "If I imagined an experience with witches and black veins," he amends, "it wouldn't be good."

"You said she was fine after."

"I said I _thought_ that."

"But you obviously didn't think it. Did you ask Bonnie?"

"I don't think she realized," Jeremy says. He's sure she didn't actually. She was so focused, the way she always was when it came to her magic. There was no time for anything else, not when it was a matter of life or death. When it was Tyler's life, or Jeremy's, on the line. He's been there, too. She'd save him, no matter what the cost. Whatever had happened to her, she wasn't aware of it. "It went really fast."

"She seems okay," Tyler says. "Right? She doesn't seem different."

"No, she seems normal."

"Then we can deal with it later."

"After you apologize to Bonnie."

Jeremy thinks Tyler might argue against that one but instead he nods. "After I apologize to Bonnie."

* * *

Bonnie goes to Wickery Bridge and sits at the edge of the water. It's freezing out and she's exhausted but she feels better near the water once she submerges her hands. She closes her eyes and breathes. She can feel the water as it moves, flowing around her fingers. It's not the same rush that she felt in her room but it's still a rush, muted and lovely and magical.

It warms her.

She knows she did the right thing by saving Tyler. Her magic told her to and her magic has become interchangeable with her instincts. It doesn't lead her astray. It only takes her where she's supposed to be. And she was supposed to save Tyler's life. She hopes he realizes that, too.

Bonnie's phone starts ringing. When she focuses, she knows who it is calling. She would expect it to be Jeremy or Tyler, wondering when she's going to be back but it's Shane. After taking her hands from the water, she wipes them off on her jeans and fishes her phone out of her bag.

"Hello?"

"Bonnie? How'd it go?"

He sound so excited. It's a shame really that Shane wasn't born with magic. He doesn't have a magical bone in his body but he knows so much more than Bonnie does. He has such an enthusiasm for it, for this magic that he doesn't – and can't – possess. It's beginning to rub off.

"It worked," she answers.

"Your friend's doing okay?"

"Yeah, he's good. He's a little pissed that I did the whole sacrifice thing."

She lies back on the ground. She was never much of an earthy kid. She didn't like playing in the dirt or making mud pies. But now it's nice to lie down alongside the water, with one hand just barely touching the river.

"It was necessary," Shane says. "Obviously. How do _you_ feel?"

"The same mostly. Should I feel different?"

"It's a different kind of magic," Shane says. "It's not like what you're used to."

It's the second time she's stopped a human heart. Maybe she's getting more used to it than Shane thinks.

But she knows what he means. It's not based in the magic that lives in the water and the trees and the earth beneath her. It's not magic based in life. It's death. And witches, nature's servants, _her_, they have dominion over that, too. That's how they got vampires. Cheating death, denying life, they've been doing it for centuries.

Life and death. Saving Tyler. Killing the other guy.

The other guy.

She doesn't even know his name. She tells Shane this.

And he sighs heavily. "It might be better that way."

"I guess," she says though she thinks of Tyler back at her house, so adamant that she'd done the wrong thing, overstepped her bounds. Those _lines_. She didn't even know his name.

"You knew the important things," Shane says.

"Yeah," Bonnie agrees. The faces of his victims swim around in her head. They remind her of every girl she's ever known. There's Elena's face and Caroline's. Beautiful, young and now dead. "I did."

"And you feel okay?"

"Yes."

"Then I don't see a problem."

Bonnie smiles to herself. "Me either."

After she hangs up with Shane, she stays there awhile longer and closes her eyes. She could fall asleep there and she thinks she must have because when she opens her eyes again, the water is up to her elbow and she doesn't remember making that happen. Once it's receded, she gets up to go.

On the drive home, she thinks of the others. Stefan, Klaus, Caroline, Elena. Elena's still mourning Damon. Bonnie could tell herself Damon's death put Elena right over the edge, after losing so many people but she knows that's not it. The sire bond wasn't broken and Bonnie's feelings of urgency to break it seem to have died with Damon. Now she struggles to hold on to the slightest desire to help. Elena cares so little and it's hard to figure out what's her and what's not. If Elena was herself, she would want the sire bond broken. But finding who Elena is these days is impossible. Caroline can't know that Stefan sold Tyler out. She'd never stand for that, Stefan or not. Telling her will be awful, assuming she believes it.

Bonnie wonders if Stefan will lie.

And what about Stefan?

Her opinion of him has sunk recently but he's never been so willing to hurt them. Even when Damon wanted Tyler dead to save them all the werewolf trouble, Stefan was against it. Maybe what remained of Stefan's selective compassion had gone away with Damon. Grieving or not, it made Bonnie angrier. If they'd gone through with killing Stefan the night of Tyler's party, they'd be finished with both Salvatores by now and none of this would have happened.

Welcome to Mystic Falls where things would be a lot different if there were no vampires.

When Bonnie goes into the house, a couple lamps are still on and Jeremy is sprawled out on the couch, asleep. He's snoring. She takes the stairs quietly and when she reaches her room, Tyler is sitting at the edge of her bed.

"Hey," he says.

Even though she's more used to him now, even though they're friends now, she still has a hard time reconciling what she used to know about Tyler with what's in her room now. The Tyler Lockwood she knew as a kid would never be sitting quietly in her bedroom in one of her dad's shirts, with his hands folded in his lap and tapping his feet on the carpet.

"Hey." She doesn't know why she feels nervous about going into _her_ room. She steps inside and leans against the doorframe.

"Where'd you go?"

"Just around," she says.

"I wasn't sure where you wanted me to go," he says, "to sleep, I mean."

"You can sleep in here. I'll go in my dad's room." Letting someone else sleep in her dad's bed is a strange thought and if he was here, he'd veto it immediately. He's like that but Bonnie doesn't care that much. Tyler can't go home yet, so her bed will have to do.

"Thanks."

He looks like he has more to say, and he should, so she lingers.

"I didn't actually thank you for what you did," he says finally. "So thank you. And I'm sorry about earlier."

"Oh yeah?" She sits down next to him.

"Yeah."

"Are you sure?"

Tyler grins. "Yeah. We talked about this earlier, didn't we? I'd pick you and I'm glad you picked me."

"Good," she says. "It'll be hard to kill Stefan if you're busy being mad at me."

"I think we'd manage," Tyler says. "But I like this way better." He cocks his head to the side and looks at her strangely.

"What?"

"You have leaves in your hair," he says. He reaches out and she inclines her head so he can gently pluck the bits and pieces from her hair. "What were you doing exactly?"

Bonnie laughs and finds she can't stop.

* * *

**Thanks for reading and reviewing. I got this up a lot later than I had planned but I hope all of you are enjoying your holidays and for all of you who celebrate Christmas, I hope you have a great day. **


	21. New Year's Eve

New Year's Eve

Bonnie doesn't wake up until that afternoon. She can hear Jeremy and Tyler downstairs, talking and laughing and trying to make breakfast or lunch or whatever it is they want to call it. She hasn't slept in her dad's bed since she was little and she used to run to him with her midnight terrors. That was so long ago and all the fears were way less tangible then. She doesn't get up right away. When she closes her eyes, she can sense them, Jeremy and Tyler. Tyler's pouring orange juice into three glasses. The juice runs out as he's filling the third and he tries to level them all out while Jeremy scrambles eggs.

When the eggs are done, Bonnie hears Jeremy coming up the stairs to wake her. She still doesn't move.

"Bonnie?"

He comes to sit down next to her on the bed. He's about to touch her, shake her gently but he stops when he realizes she's awake.

"Hey. We made breakfast," he says. For some reason he looks really good in the morning.

"I know," she says. "I'll be down in a few."

"Okay." He stands to go and she considers telling him to wait. They should probably talk about what almost happened between them last night. If not for Tyler dying, they would have had sex on her couch. She wonders if he would have made breakfast afterward. He's out the door before she can find the words.

Bonnie pulls on a pair of sweatpants and a t-shirt. When she gets downstairs, there's a plate of eggs and toast waiting for her along with a glass of orange juice that she notices is slightly more full than the other two.

"Morning," she says.

"Morning," Jeremy and Tyler echo.

"Caroline's been calling," Tyler says. "I haven't answered but…she's calling."

"What should we tell her?" Jeremy asks. "The truth?"

"But she might tell Stefan," Tyler adds. A while ago Bonnie thought it was only Damon's name that she'd hear with such hatred behind it but Tyler's managed to transfer that same venom to Stefan's.

"I don't think she will," Bonnie says. "Once we explain, she'll be as angry with him as we are."

"Well, not _as_ angry," Jeremy corrects. "I doubt Caroline's going to want to get in on our plans."

If only she did.

Bonnie just hopes Caroline doesn't make an excuse for Stefan. That's more up Elena's alley than hers but Caroline _does_ trust Stefan. And even if she hated Damon, she sympathizes with Stefan, who lost his brother. And what was the _real_ loss? Caroline didn't have much of a relationship with the hybrids and Tyler's perfectly fine now.

Suddenly telling Caroline doesn't seem like such a great idea.

"What do we do about Klaus?"

"I can handle Klaus," Bonnie says.

They could hide Tyler anyway. There are spells she could try, ones that would hide him in plain sight. And he's fairly safe in her house since Klaus can't get in but she remembers how Klaus was willing to destroy Elena's house to get into it. She can work something out.

They eat while discussing what else to do.

"We'll have to explain _why_ you saved Tyler," Jeremy says.

"I don't think anyone's going to complain," Bonnie says. She's Bonnie. Saving them is supposed to be her thing.

"Klaus will," Tyler points out. "And as far as everyone knows, we're barely friends so how are you going to explain why you did it? Or how you even knew?"

"We'll say Jeremy found you," Bonnie says, "and brought you here hoping I could help. And I could. If anyone asks, Jeremy's heart was the one I stopped for the spell." That last thing she needs is any more moral policing from Elena or Caroline or anyone really.

"So I should call Caroline?" Tyler says.

"Yeah," Bonnie says. "She can come over here. You can explain everything to her."

"What should we do about Stefan?"

"What we were always going to do," Bonnie says. "We kill him."

"Has it died down yet?"

"No," Bonnie sighs. If anything it's only gotten worse. If Stefan starts to think Tyler's a threat because of what he did, he might start making connections. He already knew a hybrid was involved. She tells the boys this and they both groan. "You just have to make it clear that even though you're pissed, you're not a threat to Stefan. Not enough of one to kill him anyway."

"And in the meantime we come up with a foolproof plan for killing him," Jeremy says.

Bonnie thinks it gives them plenty of time to find a work around for the countless things that could go wrong with their so called _foolproof_ plan. Their first plan to kill Stefan was butchered and they were almost derailed with Damon.

They finish up breakfast but Tyler doesn't call Caroline right away.

"I can call her," Bonnie says, when it's been over an hour and Tyler still hasn't made a move to contact her.

"No, I'll do it."

"But you're not doing it," she points out. She reaches for her phone.

"I'm breaking up with her," he says.

"Oh." She doesn't know what to say about that. Caroline's her best friend but Tyler's up there, too. She doesn't think she's ever had this problem before not even when Elena and Caroline had their respective things with Matt. She doesn't know who she's supposed to focus on, which one gets her attention, her sympathy.

Tyler must sense her discomfort. "So I just…I should call her. And when she comes, we should probably be alone."

"Yeah, sure," Bonnie agrees. She puts her phone back down. "Me and Jeremy will be in the backyard. We'll find something to do." She's a witch. She can think of something.

He calls Caroline when Bonnie goes to explain to Jeremy that they have to go sit outside. Jeremy argues a bit. "Bonnie, it's _cold_."

"I'll make it warm," she promises. She expects him to make that dirty somehow, like Tyler would but maybe it doesn't occur to him or the concept is too awkward after what almost happened.

"Why can't we just go upstairs?" he asks .

"Because," she says, "we're going outside. We're going to do some gardening."

* * *

Bonnie drags Jeremy out to the backyard when Caroline arrives. She came when Tyler called, confused but willing. "What are you doing here? I've been calling you all day, you know."

"I know," Tyler says. "Sit down."

He doesn't bother trying to pretend. Caroline catches on because she asks, "What's wrong?"

He just says it. It won't sound better, it won't hurt less because he draws it out.

"Klaus killed the other hybrids last night," he says. "All of them."

Caroline looks horrified. "I don't understand. Why would he do that?"

Tyler explains but leaves out the part about Stefan's involvement until Caroline asks. "How did he find out?"

He thinks there are two ways for Caroline to react. The first one involves disbelief and her assuring him that there was some mistake or Klaus lied or _something _because Stefan wouldn't do that. The second involves her being just as enraged as him and going over to the Salvatore manor to rip Stefan a new one because he isn't supposed to be that way. He's supposed to be _Stefan_, the good brother. In both scenarios, he hasn't yet told her that he doesn't want to be with her anymore.

He still loves her, that much is obvious to him. He can't look at her without wanting to hug her and he knows that as soon as he tells her, as soon as he says he wants out, she'll say something that'll make him want to change his mind. She'll touch him, kiss him and remind him why he wanted to be with her in the first place. But he tells himself to soldier on. It's not fair to either of them anymore. He spends more time with Jeremy and Bonnie than he does with her and most of their time together has become a lie. He can't tell her about the one thing that's been sustaining him. The thought of killing Damon and Stefan, the feelings of relief, of pride, of happiness when they succeeded with Damon, the anticipation of killing Stefan. It's taken him over and the small part of him that still belongs with Caroline gets smaller and smaller everyday.

And she was supposed to be on his side. Maybe he didn't tell her to the keep the hybrids a secret, maybe he didn't tell her not to tell Stefan. But a part of him thinks she should have known but that's not fair either. He wants to be bitter and spiteful but that was a different Tyler, under different circumstances.

"Tyler," she says. "How did he find out?"

He's thinking too much. Worry is written all over her face.

"Stefan told him."

Caroline's face drops. "What do you mean?"

"I mean, Stefan told him," he repeats. "Stefan offered it up to get Klaus to save Damon. Klaus collected. Stefan told him." He sounds harsh. He tries not to.

Caroline is quiet for awhile. He can hear Jeremy and Bonnie out in the yard laughing together. God, he'd love to be out there with them right now.

They go with scenario number one.

"Klaus must have...Stefan wouldn't have done that. He knows what Klaus is like."

"Yeah, he does," Tyler agrees. He hasn't told her about him and Klaus yet, about Bonnie's spell or his heart in her hand. "There's more."

Caroline looks like she'd rather they left it at that but she nods her head. "What else?"

"He killed me," Tyler says. "Klaus did."

"What do you mean? You're...fine."

"He pulled my heart out," he says. "And I was dead."

"But how are you...?"

"Jeremy found me and Bonnie did a spell," Tyler says. He won't mention the gory details unless she asks. "But I was dead and Klaus killed me because Stefan told him that I was the Alpha and was unsiring hybrids."

"Tyler-"

"I know you didn't do this on purpose but you _told_ him."

"I didn't think it was a secret. I mean, not from Stefan at least. He's been on your side."

"No, he hasn't," Tyler snaps. "He wasn't on my side when he killed Chris. Stefan's on his side and Damon's side and Elena's side. Maybe yours but he's not on mine. And I don't think you are either."

"Tyler-" She's beginning to understand and she reaches out to him but he pulls away before she can touch him. "I don't think Klaus told you the truth."

"Why would he lie?"

"Because of this! Because it would break us up!"

Tyler thinks Klaus should be able to find better things to do than break them up but it's Klaus. Maybe he doesn't have anything better to do. And he's obsessed with Caroline. Getting a clearer path to her would surely be a benefit of killing him but Caroline wasn't the reason Klaus killed him and the pack. Caroline was probably the last thing on Klaus' mind last night.

"He killed me, Caroline! I wasn't going to be alive to break up with you anyway."

Caroline seems to deflate and she shakes her head slightly. "I don't know why Stefan would do that. I'll talk to him. Just let me talk to him."

"You can talk to him however much you want," he sighs, "but it won't change anything. I don't want to do this anymore."

"Do what?"

"Wonder if you're with me or with them."

"Them? Who's them? Stefan and Elena? They're my friends!"

"And every single hybrid that died last night was my friend," Tyler says. "And one of _your_ friends got them killed." Just like they get everyone killed.

"Give me a chance to sort this out," she says. They're both quiet for awhile then she adds, "I don't want to break up."

Tyler doesn't know what to say to her. She means well. Caroline has always meant well but it's not enough anymore. He forces himself to look her in the eye when he speaks. "I do."

Caroline bites down on her lip and he can see the tears building in her eyes. He hates when she cries. He always wants to comfort her and comfort would be confusing right now, for both of them. "I'm sorry," she says.

Welcome to Mystic Falls, where everyone is sorry but nothing ever changes.

"I know."

She stands up, gripping her purse tightly in both hands. She might tear it. "Tell Bonnie I'll call her later."

Tyler nods and goes to walk her to the door. It feels weird since it's not his house and he's breaking up with Caroline and usually they kiss when saying goodbye but now they don't even touch. She steps out onto the porch and stands there for awhile, like she's trying to think of something more to say. When she's decided, she turns around. "I"ll talk to Stefan," she says. "I"ll figure it out and I'll let you know what he says."

"You don't have to." He doesn't really care about Stefan's reasoning and he doesn't want Caroline to feel like she has to see him, when he's made it clear he doesn't really want to see her anymore.

"But I will," she insists. He thinks there might be a little bit of scenario two taking place later and it makes him happy. She thinks Stefan is on her side but Tyler doesn't think he knows how to be. He doesn't want Caroline to become a casualty, too. "I _am_ on your side, Tyler."

* * *

"Is she gone?" Jeremy asks.

Bonnie nods and reaches her hands back into the dirt, letting it fall through her fingers. It moves for her like it's spring and the ground isn't hard and cold and unyielding. The earth is loose and flexible and submissive to her fingers. She makes flowers bloom, right over the body of the man they killed last night. It brightens the place up a bit and Bonnie always looks at peace with her magic, when it's not giving her nosebleeds and making her pass out. When it's like this, it's nice to watch. It wasn't so nice to watch her veins go dark beneath her skin last night. They'll have to tell her about that eventually but it seems like a bad time. As promised, the space is warm. Or at least it is to him. He isn't sure how real it is but it feels like spring.

Jeremy turns his head when the back door slams shut and Tyler comes down the steps, walking toward them with his eyes glued to the ground. "How'd it go?" he asks.

"It went," Tyler answers.

"So you're...no longer...Tyler and Caroline?"

He nods and joins them on the ground. "She says she's going to talk to Stefan."

Jeremy scoffs. "Do we care what Stefan has to say?"

"Not especially," Bonnie chimes. She's dragging her hands through the earth and where she touches, the dirt looks richer. Little flower buds pop out of the ground to chase after her fingers. "Was she okay?"

"She cried," Tyler says.

"Caroline's a crier," she says. "But was she okay otherwise?"

Tyler obviously into sure of that but Bonnie's phone starts ringing. "That's her," she says without looking. She stands and pulls her phone from her pocket. "Hi," she says as she walks back into the house. She takes the warmth with her.

"What are you two doing out here?" Tyler asks.

"Gardening," Jeremy says. "But it's kinda hard to do without Bonnie so..."

"So when are we going to tell her about her veins?" Tyler asks. He makes a face and Jeremy knows what he means. The fact that they have to talk to Bonnie about her _veins_ of all things.

"When she comes back," Jeremy says.

Bonnie returns a few minutes later.

"Is she okay?" Tyler asks.

"Well, as good as you'd expect," she answers. "You did just break up with her. But she _is_ going to talk to Stefan. She's on her way over there now. So, now what?"

Tyler nods to Jeremy.

"Well," he says, "there's actually something we want to talk to you about."

"What?"

"Your...magic," Jeremy says. "When you did the spell, to kill that guy, something happened to you."

Bonnie raises an eyebrow. "What?"

"It's hard to explain," he says, even though it's not really, "but it looked like your veins were...black."

"My veins?"

She looks back and forth between them. "Are you sure?"

"Yeah."

"Well, I didn't notice anything."

"You were kind of occupied at the time," Tyler points out. "We just wanted you to know in case it's something bad."

"It's nothing bad," Bonnie says. "It's probably just an effect of the spell but I feel fine and I talked to Shane and he said it was okay. Don't worry about it. I'm not."

_But maybe you should be_, Jeremy wants to say. Maybe Shane doesn't know everything and Bonnie's still pretty new with the magic thing. She knows more than they do but she's only been doing it for a year. They could be missing something, this could mean more than any of them knows. But Bonnie says she's fine and Tyler looks ready to drop it, too. But Jeremy files it away for later, just in case it does mean something.

* * *

That night they sit in Bonnie's living room with glasses of champagne she found underneath the kitchen counter, glasses they don't even touch, surrounding the tiny coffee table. There are pages and pages of paper between them. Jeremy draws diagrams for how they could kill Stefan. He draws little y pictures and they all smile over them. There's a little thing Connor made, that will shoot straight through a vampire and take out their heart. He thinks they could use that. But Tyler vetoes it because it's too quick for Stefan. They all agree.

The New Year's crap going on at Times Square is on the TV but none of them are watching.

It's weird to be here without Elena and Caroline. Usually they'd go to Elena's house and watch all of this and sip champagne and get tipsy under the watchful eye of Elena's parents. They didn't mind it if it was New Year's. Of course they should get to drink champagne. Today Bonnie hasn't even spoken to Elena and Caroline has fallen off the radar. When she called Bonnie she was crying, feeling guilty and confused and wondering how she was _this_ upset about breaking up with her boyfriend when there could be a trio of murderers running around trying to pick them off one by one and everything is falling apart.

Bonnie told her she had every right to be upset. She didn't mention that Tyler was still at her house and besides a phone call with his mom earlier, he apparently had no intention of leaving. She wonders how it went with Stefan.

"She's going to this thing for public people," Tyler said, as an explanation for why he was going to ring in the New Year with them. "I mean she wouldn't go if she knew what happened last night but, you know...I don't want to freak her out."

And then they got to planning Stefan's demise and they have yet to come up for air. Neither Tyler nor Jeremy has mentioned her supposedly black veins again either.

Bonnie thinks it's too early to be planning like this. Between now and when they decide is the perfect time for Stefan and Damon to be reunited, Stefan could leave town with Elena, or another big, scary bad trying to kill Elena could blow into town, or there could be some kind of natural disaster that wipes them all off the map. Anything could happen and if something does, all their planning could be for nothing. But Tyler and Jeremy are restless.

It's getting close to midnight. They almost miss it but Tyler happens to be looking at the screen and sees the countdown reaching zero. They pause from the planning to watch it. 5...4...3...2...1...0.

Times Square explodes in showers of glitter and streamers and music. Bonnie's living room is still.

"Well," Tyler says, "Happy New Year."

Jeremy and Bonnie echo the sentiment then she looks back down at the table. "What do you guys think about fire?"

* * *

**Thanks for reading and reviewing! I'll be updating again soon. **


	22. Apology

**I wasn't going to do this at first but as a onetime only thing, Caroline has a POV so you can see exactly what went down with her and Stefan when she confronted him (since a few of you said you wanted to see it). **

* * *

Apology

Caroline has been at the boarding house for hours, longer than she intended. It's New Year's Eve and she should be at a party or with Tyler or Bonnie and Elena but she's not. No one's doing anything. Her mom is at a party with Carol Lockwood and a bunch of the Fells and Caroline is sitting at the Salvatore place trying to pinpoint where it all went wrong.

Elena's there so Stefan is almost completely uninterested in Caroline even though she's tried to pull him aside more than once. Caroline thinks it must be the sire bond that's keeping Elena so down. It's like she's hardly alive. All she does is drink blood and sit with Stefan and cry. Stefan's become a bit like a nurse, running back and forth from the basement to Damon's bedroom which Elena now calls her own, bringing her blood bags.

"Stefan," Caroline says when he returns to the living room.

"Yeah?" He sits down across from her on the other sofa, rests his elbows on his knees.

"I went to Bonnie's earlier," Caroline explains, "and Tyler was there. He broke up with me."

"I don't understand. What happened?"

"That's not-That's not the important part," she says. She doesn't know if it hurts because Tyler's hurt or because she was part of why he got hurt. "Klaus killed all the hybrids last night, Tyler included. The only reason he's still alive is because of Bonnie. And Klaus killed them because you told him _everything_."

Stefan lowers his eyes. "I didn't intend to do that."

"You didn't _intend_ to? So you _accidentally_ told Klaus everything he needed to know to trigger some kind of mental break and slaughter a dozen hybrids and my boyfriend?"

_He's not your boyfriend anymore,_ she reminds herself.

Stefan sits there quietly for a moment. "Caroline, I was compelled."

"Compelled?"

"I went off the vervain when I left," he says, "and I didn't start using it again when I got back because...Damon was gone and Elena needed me. I got distracted and Klaus took advantage."

At first, Caroline is relieved. So it wasn't Stefan's fault after all. Then a thought comes to her. "You had to give Klaus something in exchange for saving Damon."

Damon, Damon, Damon. It all comes back to Damon. Damon who used her, abused her, tried to kill her. Damon who gave her the blood that made her into a vampire. Damon who died and took whatever sanity remained in Stefan and Elena with him.

Damon.

She's sad because Stefan's sad, because Elena can't seem to remember how to live without the older Salvatore. But she's not sad for Damon.

"Yes."

"What were you going to give him?"

Stefan's not stupid. And he's not much of a liar either. "I was going to give him exactly what he got."

"Damon was dead," he says. "I changed my mind. There was no point in-"

"There was no point? So it's fine as long as there _is _a point?"

If Klaus had gotten there in time to save Damon, if the hybrid and the witch hadn't killed him first, he would have told Klaus everything and he would have done it gladly. Because then there would have been a _point_.

"Caroline," Stefan says weakly. "I'm sorry."

"You're only sorry because Damon's dead."

"Caroline," he says again. "He was my brother."

"We've all lost people, Stefan," she snaps. "You don't get a free pass because Damon's gone. You're lucky Bonnie was able to save Tyler because if he'd died because of you, I would have..." She doesn't know what she would have done. She can't imagine being on a side opposite Stefan. He taught her what it was to be a vampire, a decent one. They've always been on the same side.

And somehow that side wasn't Tyler's.

"I'm going home," she says. "Tell Elena I left." She can hear them from upstairs but knowing her, she's tuning them out. Maybe she doesn't really hear them at all.

She turns to go to the door.

"Caroline, stay," Stefan says, following after her. "Let's talk some more."

She reaches the door, folds her fingers around the handle.

"I don't want to talk to you!" She feels stupid. She's the only one who's angry, the only one emotional. Stefan just stands there, looking at her and talking calmly and not reacting. She can't tell if he really cares or not. Maybe Damon took more than they thought. "I talked to you and it got the hybrids and Tyler killed. We're not talking anymore."

Stefan looks back down at the floor. "I don't know what else to say."

"Even if you didn't care about Tyler, you should have cared about me because I've cared about you," she says. "I've been here with you every day since he died and you know _exactly_ how I felt about Damon but I came here anyway because I'm your friend and I know you loved him. I trusted you and I told Tyler to trust you. Everyone said you and Damon were different and I thought that was true but you're not. You're just like he was. No one matters but you."

Caroline yanks the door open and marches out to her car. She hates herself for looking back to the door of the boarding house. Stefan is still there.

* * *

Caroline comes over first thing in the morning. For a girl who just got dumped she looks fantastic with her hair perfectly done, her makeup flawless. Even in crisis, Caroline Forbes never looks bad. She doesn't comment on Tyler's car still being parked outside Bonnie's house and besides a glance around the living room which settles on Jeremy doing push ups on the floor, she doesn't look around for Tyler or even ask where he is. "I talked to Stefan," she says as Bonnie leads her out into the backyard.

"What did he say?"

"Klaus compelled him," Caroline says.

That doesn't satisfy Bonnie and she can see it doesn't satisfy Caroline either. She's pleased with that. There's a part of her that wants to share everything with Caroline. There are so few things she's kept from Caroline.

"Do you believe him?"

"I guess," she answers. "But he was going to tell Klaus anyway. If Klaus had saved Damon, he would have."

Of course he would have.

"Are you going to tell Tyler?"

"I want to," she says, "but he doesn't want to see me."

Bonnie shrugs. "He might. You can go up." He's been up there, walking around. She knows he didn't sleep well last night. She walked past her room to get some water in the middle of the night and heard him talking in his sleep. He was saying names. Bryant. Lana. Steven. Jack. Adrian. Cora. Sabrina. Chase. Kevin. Casey. Hope. Kim. Again and again and again.

Caroline looks like she might go up but then she shakes her head. "No, that's okay. We're broken up now. I shouldn't bother him."

Bonnie thinks a change of subject is in order. "What did you say to Stefan?"

The blond lets out a breathy sigh. "I told him he was just like Damon and no one mattered but him. And some other stuff. Damon _just _died. I shouldn't have said that. "

"Yes you should have," Bonnie says. She's heard Caroline be malicious before, to her and to Elena both. Usually she felt bad afterward just as she does now and sometimes she'd have a sweet apology on hand. Bonnie can't help but think that whatever Caroline said to Stefan, it wasn't cruel enough.

"Isn't there a special place in hell for people who speak ill of the dead?"

Bonnie shrugs. If there's a special place for Caroline there's an extra special one for her, Tyler and Jeremy. Maybe they'll all see Damon there. "You didn't say anything that wasn't true."

"Tyler needed me on his side," Caroline said, "and I wasn't. I messed up. Majorly messed up."

Bonnie can't disagree and even if she did, Caroline would know she was lying. "It was a mistake," she says instead. "You're not a bad person."

"I'm a bad girlfriend."

"Caroline-"

"I thought he was going to break up with me after Hayley died," she says. "Maybe he should have. Then none of this would have happened."

"Stop," Bonnie says. "Stefan did this. You just trusted the wrong person. We've all done that." Her and Tyler and Jeremy. Elena's trusted Stefan and Damon for this long and they've always been the wrong people to put faith in. Caroline made that mistake, too.

Welcome to Mystic Falls, where trusting the Salvatores is a very common mistake.

* * *

Caroline leaves when Bonnie's dad calls to wish her a happy New Year. She goes despite Bonnie's protests and her dad didn't even stay on the phone long. It may be New Year's Day but he's working. It's for the best because someone rings Bonnie's doorbell and she goes to see who it is.

Klaus.

She inhales deeply before answering the door. "Yes?"

"Good morning," he says.

"Is it?" Jeremy chimes from behind her. He's paused from his workout and is still sweaty when he comes to stand at her side.

"Jeremy," Klaus says with a nod. "I'm looking for Tyler. I heard he was here and...living."

News must travel fast. Bonnie wonders how Stefan shared that information so quickly. Whatever Caroline said last night must not have sunk in.

"He is," she says, folding her arms across her chest.

"I'd like to speak with him." He inclines his head to try to see around her and Jeremy. Tyler's probably listening from upstairs. He probably listened to every word Bonnie exchanged with Caroline earlier, too.

"I'd like you to get off my porch."

"Forgive me for disappointing you."

The last vampire who stood on her porch when she didn't want him to ended up alone in the tomb with a stake in his heart. Klaus doesn't know that but Bonnie does. Jeremy does. Tyler does. Klaus' time will come.

"Forgive _me_ because you're not getting anywhere near Tyler." She thinks of incantations, spells she can do against him. With them inside and Klaus out there they have an advantage. She can protect the house and all of them in it.

"My patience is wearing, witch."

"You never had much to begin with," Bonnie reminds him. "And you can go because we won't give you what you want."

"Bonnie." He seems to be trying a new strategy. "I have no interest in harming him."

"You get why we don't believe that, right?" Jeremy snaps.

"Because I took his heart from his chest and killed his pack," Klaus says, as if it's just a little thing. "Yes, I _get _it."

"Get off my porch," Bonnie says. "You're not coming in and Tyler's not coming out."

Klaus makes a quiet humming sound and looks up at the threshold. He takes a few steps back, glances at the windows, the pale siding. "It's a quaint little place," he comments. "It won't look nearly as good in pieces."

"Neither will you," Jeremy says.

Klaus smirks. "I'm trembling. Tell Tyler I'll be expecting him later today. We have business."

"Are you deaf?" Jeremy hisses. "He's not going anywhere near you."

Klaus goes on like he didn't hear him. "Maybe I'll plan dinner tonight. We can make an event out of it. I'll even invite his mother." That stupid smirk stays on his face.

"If Tyler would rather it remain a private discussion," Klaus says. "All he has to do is say so."

Bonnie slams the door in his smirking face.

"So what do we do?" Jeremy asks.

It's obvious. "We help Mrs. Lockwood."

* * *

"My mom has to leave town, " Tyler says after Klaus is gone and Bonnie and Jeremy have come upstairs. He sits on the edge of Bonnie's bed. It's stripped of sheets because he said he was planning on doing laundry for her, a little token of his appreciation.

"Yes," Bonnie says, sitting down next to him.

"He'll find her."

"I can hide her," Bonnie says.

"You're pushing yourself too much already," Tyler says.

Jeremy can't really disagree. The black veins are reason enough for Bonnie to take a break.

The frown she wears is enough of an indication that she disagrees. "I'll let you know when I'm pushing myself too much," she says. " I can do it. There's a spell. It'll hide her and it'll hold at least until we can take care of Klaus."

Who knows how long it'll take them to get to Klaus? They just recently took out Damon and they've still got Stefan to deal with. Klaus will be even harder to kill. How long are they supposed to expect Carol Lockwood to run and hide?

"My aunt lives in Burbank," Tyler says. "She can go there. I'll have to convince her."

He doesn't sound like he wants to do that.

"She won't see me graduate," Tyler says.

Bonnie looks back at Jeremy with a sad expression. Jeremy hasn't thought twice about graduation. It's not _his_ graduation after all but he's reminded that Bonnie and Tyler are supposed to be moving on to better things, college kid things, futures and lives that are normal. Elena is, too but she's probably not going to now.

"You have to convince her," Bonnie says. "She'll listen to you."

"She won't want to leave me here."

"She has to," Jeremy says.

"But she's the mayor now," Tyler says. He's making up more excuses than his mom will, Jeremy thinks. "She can't just leave."

"Yes, she can," Jeremy says. "They'll replace her with an acting mayor and life will go on. She'll be fine. Safer than she is here."

He thinks he might have felt safer in Denver even after he found out Kol was an Original vampire. Kol was good at playing normal. And he wasn't Damon or Stefan or anyone who had destroyed his life. Kol may have been awaiting Klaus' orders to kill Jeremy or something but he'd prefer Kol's company to Damon's at any rate. Now Mrs. Lockwood gets a Denver. Maybe they all need one.

"I know you don't want her to go," Jeremy says, "but it's all we've got. We'll deal with Klaus and she'll be able to come back. If we work hard enough I bet we could do it by graduation."

It's unrealistic but none of them wants to dwell on it.

"I'll call her now," Tyler says finally.

Jeremy nods his head. "I'll pick her up."

Tyler grabs his phone and dials. He holds it to his ear for awhile and his brow furrows. "She's not answering."

"She might just be busy," Bonnie says. "It's New Year's Day. She's probably doing stuff."

It's not hard to believe. Carol Lockwood's always doing stuff.

"No, she would have answered," Tyler says. "She always answers."

* * *

Tyler paces Bonnie's living room. She's on the floor doing a locator spell with a map and his blood. He can tell it's not working right but she won't explain what the problem is. He thinks it may be because it means something bad. Like his mom is dead and the spell doesn't work on dead people. Maybe it's because Tyler's dead.

Bonnie won't let him leave the house. _That's exactly what Klaus wants. _At this point he's more than willing to give Klaus everything he wants, heart and all if it means his mom will be okay. He calls her phone a couple more times. It rings and rings and goes to voicemail.

Jeremy's out looking for her. He started at Tyler's place and now he's at City Hall. He texts whenever he goes to a new location.

"He has her," Tyler says finally sitting down on the couch.

Bonnie stops her work. "We don't know that."

"We know we can't find her. We know Klaus threatened to go after her."

"If Klaus had hurt her, he would have told us by now," she says. He knows she's right. Klaus loves to gloat and Tyler would have gone to him willingly "Your mom's okay. We just have to find her."

Tyler wants to ask her how she proposes doing that when there's a knock on the door. It's more like banging actually and he's sure it's not Klaus. Klaus likes to pretend he's dignified and overflowing with elegance. Klaus doesn't bang on anything.

Tyler speeds to the door before Bonnie can even get up and wrenches it open, expecting someone else. Maybe Jeremy or Caroline or the Easter Bunny. There's a whole host of people he would expect to see on Bonnie's porch that aren't Stefan Salvatore, cradling his mom in his arms.

"What did you do?" Tyler demands. She's soaking wet and her hair sticks to her face. He reaches for her, takes her from him and turns away to set her on Bonnie's couch. He can hear her heart beating. It's strong, steady. She's alive. Relief floods his body.

"I didn't hurt her," Stefan says. "I was looking for Klaus and I found him with her. He was...He tried to drown her in one of the fountains. I had to give her some of my blood but she's fine now.

Stefan stands outside the door. Bonnie stands on the other side. Both of them are looking at Tyler, waiting for his report.

"Is she okay?" Bonnie asks.

Tyler nods. "I think so." She's cold where he touches her from the water and the chill.

Stefan is still there. He can't come in.

"Damon said you revoked my invitation," he says. It sounds like it pains him to say the name.

But Tyler's barely listening anymore. He holds his mom's hand, thanking every higher power that he's ever heard of that she's okay.

"For Jeremy," Bonnie says, as an explanation.

"I know," Stefan says. He doesn't ask to be invited in again. "Have you talked to Caroline?"

Bonnie says she has.

It's Stefan's apology, bringing Tyler's mother here.

He turns to go. "This doesn't change anything," Tyler says. When he looks up, Stefan nods his head and continues down the porch steps. They creak under his weight. Bonnie closes the door and comes to join him at his mom's side. He was talking to her, too. She puts her arm around him and rubs his shoulder. She knows.

Nothing has changed.

* * *

** So Carol has lived another day but I thought it would be totally OOC if Klaus didn't go after her at all, especially once he learned that Tyler was still alive. **

**Thanks for reading and reviewing! I'll try to update again very soon.**


	23. I'm Not Calling You A Liar

I'm Not Calling You A Liar

Tyler says goodbye to his mother the next morning.

The three of them stayed up for most of the night. First, Bonnie had to check to make sure his mom hadn't been compelled. She came to the conclusion that she hadn't been. All of her memories were her own.

"So Stefan was telling the truth?" Tyler asked.

"From what she saw," Bonnie said. "But she was unconscious."

He doesn't believe that. Stefan's not dumb and him showing up on his doorstep with his mother in his arms while they're running around hoping she's not dead, was convenient. Too convenient. Or maybe he's just being paranoid. Maybe he's just _really_ biased.

Bonnie's steady on her feet despite exerting herself more than any of them. Her spells alone should be wearing her out and she relies on Jeremy more than usual. To perform the spell that will hide his mom once she leaves, she sits in the living room surrounded by candles with Jeremy's hands in hers and multiple bowls of water around her. It's more help than he's ever seen her require. He worries that her nose will start bleeding at any moment now.

Tyler makes a mental note to convince Bonnie to take a long nap once his mom leaves.

Jeremy's going to drive his mom to the bus station a few towns over. From there she'll head to California. She's not crazy about the whole _bus_ part of the situation or leaving Mystic Falls at all, but Tyler assures her they don't have much of a choice.

"You'll be safe there," he says.

"I haven't spoken to your aunt in awhile," she says.

"Then she'll be glad to catch up."

"I'd rather stay here with you," she says. "You shouldn't be alone."

Tyler glances toward the kitchen where Bonnie and Jeremy are gathering up the candles and the water together. "I'm not."

She looks over her shoulder at them and sighs heavily. "You're all just kids."

Tyler shakes his head slightly. "We'll be fine."

Welcome to Mystic Falls, where they aren't _just_ kids.

"You can come with me," she says. "We can start over in California together."

"I can't," Tyler says, even though it seems like the easiest thing to do right now. "I have things to do here and I'm a senior."

His mom makes a sound in the back of her throat. It could have been a laugh. "You're worried about graduation?"

"We'll have you back by then," he says. It was unrealistic when Jeremy said it and it's just as unrealistic now but she's appeased by it. "But for now, you have to go."

"We won't be able to talk," she says.

"No," he says regretfully.

She nods. He can tell she's trying not to cry. "Then I'll see you for graduation."

* * *

The tea is becoming tasteless she's been drinking so much of it. It's the only thing keeping her awake right now. She's been so heavy on the magic lately, she's starting to feel it. She's never done this much of it in such a small amount of time but she's glad she's still standing. A year ago she wouldn't have made it this long. After making sure Tyler's mom hadn't been compelled by anyone, she did the spells to secure the house, making it impossible for Klaus to try to come knock it down. The one to hide Mrs. Lockwood had been just as hard. Now she wanted to sleep.

When it's time for them to leave, Tyler lingers with his mom at the door. Jeremy waits patiently. He has a backpack slung over his shoulder with money for gas and whatever hunter gear he thought would be most appropriate. She told him to call if anything happened or even if he thought anything would happen. The spell she placed on Mrs. Lockwood will shield him as well, as long as he's near her but as soon as she boards that bus, he'll be on his own. She wants to go with him but they agreed that leaving Tyler there alone with Klaus in town was a bad idea and all he was doing was giving Mrs. Lockwood a ride anyway.

Eventually Mrs. Lockwood says she's ready. "Thank you," she says to both of them as Jeremy leads her out to Bonnie's car.

Bonnie goes to Tyler's side to watch the car peel away from the curb.

"Well," he says, "that's that."

"She'll be back for graduation," Bonnie reminds him.

"Yeah. I remember."

He closes the door and goes into the kitchen. She follows. They sit at the table together and neither of them speaks for awhile. Now would be a great time for both of them to get some sleep but for some reason neither of them moves.

"We have to talk about Stefan," he says.

She nods.

"I don't believe what he told Caroline. About Klaus compelling him."

"But it's possible."

"Lots of things are possible," he says, "but I don't think he needed to be compelled."

"He admitted he was going to tell Klaus before," Bonnie reminds him. "Why would he-"

"He's not stupid."

"Well, even if Stefan lied, it doesn't change anything. _Nothing _has changed. We're still going to kill him."

"Yeah, I know," he says. "But what if Stefan had a target?"

"A target?"

"Damon said it was a hybrid and a witch and a third that put him in the tomb. The only hybrids are the ones that Klaus made and the ones that Klaus made were here. And then Klaus killed _all _of us."

"Except you."

"Yeah, thanks," he says.

Bonnie smiles a little. "He wouldn't have told Caroline that. I can talk to him, feel him out."

"No," Tyler says. "I'll do it. You need a serious nap."

He knows she agrees with him but she's got too much pride to admit she's exhausted. "I'm not the only one."

"You are the only one who's human," he says, "and has been doing spells nonstop for the past two days. You need to rest. I can talk to Stefan."

"But Klaus-"

"Then Stefan can come here," Tyler says, knowing what she's going to say. Klaus is out there, in town, possibly still set on killing him. "We can talk in the backyard. I'll figure it out."

Bonnie doesn't like it. If Tyler's right then Stefan's a bigger problem than they thought, one that will be significantly harder to deal with if he thinks he knows who killed Damon. They'll have to watch their backs in a way they didn't have to before. If he suspects Tyler, he'll suspect Bonnie, who brought him back to life. And Jeremy who he thinks agreed to die to do it. All of them, living together.

A hybrid, a witch and a hunter.

The killers of Damon Salvatore.

If Stefan knows anything, they're really screwed.

She calls Stefan herself and doesn't know how Tyler expects her to sleep.

* * *

Stefan comes over within half an hour and Tyler leads him around the house and to the backyard where Bonnie's flowers are beginning to die. Without her magical fingers to sustain them, they are withering in the cold. Still, they're beautiful. Maybe there's some of her magic still left.

"Thanks for helping my mom," Tyler says.

"You're welcome," Stefan says. "I was surprised you wanted me to come over."

"Yeah, well," Tyler says with a shrug, "Bonnie said I might have been a little less than grateful last night."

_Pretend, _he tells himself. _You _are_ grateful._

"No, I get it," Stefan says. "I'm sorry about your friends. About my part in it."

But he's not sorry. And he can say he is a million times but Tyler knows Stefan feels nothing for any of the hybrids that died. They were just shadows to him, faceless, voiceless, lifeless people who could die without a second thought. But Tyler also thinks it's partly his fault. _He's_ the hybrid that killed Damon. He might have put a target on all of their backs. He swore to protect them, to lead them on to lives without Klaus and without sire bonds and with an excess of freedom. Instead he kept them in the dark about his plans to kill a Salvatore brother. And now they were all dead and available to make cameo appearances in his dreams.

"I'm sorry about Damon," Tyler says. He goes to sit on the porch and he glances through the window. He doesn't see her. She said she was going to try to sleep but he knows she won't be trying _that_ hard. She's probably upstairs, looking down at them from one of the windows. She might be working some magic to hear everything they're saying. But she's not sleeping, that's for sure.

"So am I."

"Are you any closer to finding who did it?"

Stefan shakes his head. "No. But I'm looking. Elena's my priority right now though."

Tyler believes Elena is a priority but maybe she's not as high up on the list as Stefan says.

"Damon said it was hybrid and a witch. And another one but..."

"I know," Tyler says. "I was there."

"Right."

"Do you think that hybrid is still alive?" Tyler asks. "Or did Klaus kill him?"

Stefan looks at him. "Klaus compelled-"

"That's what you told Caroline," Tyler says, "and she's your friend so I get why you don't want her thinking that you're a terrible person. But we're not friends, not really. We're on the same side but we're not friends. So you're going to have to give me a better reason for getting me and my whole pack killed. He was your brother. I can't tell you the lengths I'd go to for someone who meant that much to me." _Killing them is a possibility. "_But you might as well tell me the truth. If you thought one of them went after Damon, I would have helped you figure it out. You didn't have to do what you did. There was _one_ hybrid that killed Damon. Two max! They didn't all have to die."

It's hard to talk to him and remain neutral. Maybe Bonnie would have been better for this job after all. He can't tell if he's leaning too far in one direction or not. If Stefan doesn't already suspect him the last thing he needs is making Stefan question him and his intentions now. But Stefan already knows he's angry, angry enough to break it off with Caroline, angry enough to barely thank him for saving his mom last night.

Tyler has no problem being angry.

It's the not-being-so-angry-that-he-wants-to-kill-Stefan part that's causing him trouble.

Stefan looks toward Bonnie's flowers but doesn't speak.

"You're not a liar, Stefan." _Just say it_. Tyler will feel better if he says it. He just wants him to admit it, admit guilt, admit that he's not the white knight of Mystic Falls. He's Stefan Salvatore and he's selfish and a killer. He's no one's friend. _Just say it_.

Finally he turns to look at Tyler again. His face is passive and Tyler can't read a thing. He does, however, really want to hit him. All Stefan says is, "You're right. I'm not a liar."

Tyler grips the wooden railing and has remind himself not to snap it in two. "Okay," he says.

"That being said," Stefan adds, "if the hybrid that helped kill my brother is dead, I'm not upset about it."

* * *

Bonnie's putting freshly laundered sheets onto her bed when Tyler comes up. "How did it go?" she asks. She had watched from the window, for as long as she could. It wasn't very interesting not being able to hear them and for a moment she wished she had a vampire's heightened senses. Of all she spells she'd come across in the pile of grimoires in her bedroom, she couldn't remember if there was one to magnify sounds. Even if she could remember it, she didn't think she'd be able to do it now, half awake, with her body feeling like lead.

"He says Klaus compelled him."

"Still don't believe him?"

"I never believe a Salvatore," Tyler says.

Bonnie finishes putting on the sheets. Her bed has never looked so inviting. She could fall into it now and sleep for days. It reminds her of the last time she'd slept, when she'd climbed out of bed.

"I heard you," she says, "the other night. You were talking in your sleep. You said their names."

"Whose names?"

"Your pack."

Tyler glances down at the floor and she knows he knows exactly what she's talking about.

"There are herbs to help you sleep," she says, "without dreaming. Do you want them?"

"No, it's okay," he says. "It wasn't a bad dream, really. They were just...there."

Bonnie nods. She won't push it. "But if they do get bad, you'll use the herbs? Right?"

"Yeah, I'll use them."

He helps her as she grabs the gigantic comforter and throws it over the mattress. He takes one end to lay neatly on one side. "You don't have to take care of me, you know," he says.

"I know," she says.

"I'm not complaining or anything," he hurries to add.

Bonnie's eyes meet his over the bed and she smiles. "I know."

"I mean, you've done me nothing but favors lately."

Her eyes move down to his arms, to his wrist, where the shell bracelet remains. She told him it was powerless now. It's juice was only good for one go but he still wears it. She doesn't know why he won't just throw the ugly thing away but she likes that he still wears it. "I know."

When they're finished, she runs a hand along the comforter, smoothing out wrinkles. "You'll have a fresh bed to sleep in tonight," she tells him.

"Bonnie, sleep in your own bed," he says. "I'll be fine. If you don't want me in your dad's room, I'll sleep downstairs somewhere. It's _fine_."

"No, I'm okay in my dad's room," she insists. "You can sleep in here."

It's not his fault he can't go back home yet. Now that she thinks about it, she doesn't know _when_ Tyler's going to be able to go back home. When Klaus is dead, perhaps. That could be a long way away. And her bed looks _so_ comfortable right now.

"On second thought," she says. "I'll put some new sheets on my dad's bed, too. You can sleep in there."

* * *

The bus station is quiet and Jeremy pulls onto the parking lot. At the ticket window he buys one for California and hands over the cash.

"It'll be a long drive," Jeremy says as he returns to Mrs. Lockwood, who stands near the car, "but you'll get there."

She takes the ticket from him and stares at it. "I suppose I will." She looks toward the massive gray charter bus that leaves in a little over twenty minutes, the one that'll carry her across the country. She hardly has any clothes but there's money that Tyler gave her and Jeremy stopped at a drugstore so she could get everything else she needed. She carries it all in a plastic bag.

They're letting people board the bus now.

"I should go," she says.

Jeremy nods. This is awkward. He knew it would be because he's not Tyler and interacting with parents has always been awkward. And Mrs. Lockwood, though always present in his life, on the periphery planning some kind of event or another, is familiar and a stranger at once. "We'll watch out for Tyler," he promises.

She smiles. "That's good. I don't know what you're planning on doing but I'm sure it's not safe so be careful. All of you."

"We will."

She nods and turns to walk toward the bus.

Jeremy waits in the car. He doesn't leave until the bus has pulled off the lot then he sends a quick text to Bonnie letting her know Mrs. Lockwood is gone. When she sends back a reply it reads, _Good. See you soon_. He swings the car back around and heads back to Mystic Falls.

* * *

"Where's Bonnie?"

Tyler's straightening up the living room when Jeremy comes back and Bonnie is nowhere in sight.

"She's sleeping."

"About time," Jeremy says. "Why aren't you sleeping, too?"

"Because I'm not tired," Tyler answers. Jeremy knows he's probably just as tired as Bonnie. If they sit still for awhile, they'll both be out, too.

"Anything interesting happen while I was gone?"

"Actually," he says, "Stefan came by."

Jeremy arches an eyebrow. He wasn't there when Stefan came by yesterday with Mrs. Lockwood and a story about saving her life but he was sad to have missed it. And now he missed this one, too. "What for?"

Tyler explains how he thinks Stefan may be onto them - or at least onto _him_ - and how he thinks he lied about Klaus compelling him.

"Doesn't change anything," Jeremy says. "We're killing him either way."

"But it _does_ change things. It makes this harder."

Jeremy shrugs. "I don't mind a challenge. We know Bonnie doesn't. Do you?"

Tyler shakes his head. "No. I just think we should be ready. We have to know more first."

Jeremy doesn't see what all the fuss is about. So it'll be a little harder to kill Stefan than it was killing Damon. He's okay with that. As long as the end result is the same. But it's weird hearing Tyler talk so responsibly. That's more Bonnie's thing. Maybe she's rubbing off.

Tyler doesn't mention his mom even though Jeremy expects him to. Instead he finishes making the living room presentable and collapses on the sofa at Jeremy's side. They're beginning to crash, Jeremy can feel it.

"Can I tell you a secret?" Jeremy asks.

Tyler squints at him. "What is this, a slumber party?"

"Shut up," Jeremy sighs.

"Whatever, Gilbert. Go ahead."

Well now he doesn't really want to. But he does anyway because he's been dying to ask what to do and Tyler's the only other person who he _can_ tell. "Me and Bonnie kind of-almost...you know."

"You kind of, almost what?"

"You know," Jeremy repeats.

"Obviously I don't."

"We kissed. And almost did other stuff."

"Okay," Tyler says, nodding his head. He looks more interested than he was before. Jeremy finds his interest in him and Bonnie endlessly amusing. "Why was it an almost?"

"You died," Jeremy deadpans.

"Oh," Tyler says, laughing. "Sorry about that."

"We haven't talked about it since."

"She hasn't mentioned it?"

"Nope. Is that a bad sign?"

It feels like a bad sign.

"Well from what I remember of that night, you were both kind of...not sober, right?"

"Right."

"People don't usually like to remember drunk kisses," Tyler says.

But it was a really good kiss. And they weren't _that_ drunk.

He tells Tyler that. "We were just...tipsy."

"Then why don't you say something about it?" Tyler asks.

_How logical_, Jeremy thinks. "If she doesn't want to talk about it, I don't want to bring it up."

"If you don't bring it up, how will you know she doesn't want to talk about it?"

_Again with the logic_.

"I don't know," he admits.

Tyler shrugs his shoulders. "Well, I don't know either. So."

"So."

They're both quiet.

"Would that have been the first time you and Bonnie...did stuff?"

Jeremy punches Tyler's arm. "Shut up."

"Come on," Tyler says. "It'll cheer me up. Klaus just ran my mom out of town, you know."

"Shut up," he repeats.

Tyler laughs and Jeremy laughs a little too. Then they both fall silent. And eventually Jeremy's eyelids start drooping and he doesn't try so hard to stay awake. He glances toward Tyler at the other end of the sofa, his chin in his hand and dozing. Upstairs Bonnie's just as far gone. Jeremy shifts his weight some and falls asleep, too.

* * *

**Feel free to speculate on what Stefan does or does not know. He's trickier than Damon is. When given the opportunity, I think Stefan's very capable of being a pretty solid thinker, more than Damon anyway and just as vengeful so he could be a real threat if he suspects that the hybrid and witch that killed Damon are closer than first imagined. As far as his relationship with Klaus goes, they're still on the same side regarding the cure for Elena (even more now that Elena's almost catatonic about Damon dying and Klaus killed all but one of his hybrids). But whether or not Tyler's correct in his suspicions will be seen later.**

**A few of you mentioned Caroline and I adore her despite her poor judgment. She's important to Bonnie and Tyler, for different reasons of course. I applaud your patience regarding the long road to Tonnie (which is a lot shorter now) but as a few of you have mentioned, Caroline _will_ be a big factor in their thinking when it gets there.**

**I've answered a few questions over PM already but if any of you want to know something (about my reasoning for doing this or that in fic) that I haven't put into these little author's notes then you're welcome to send me a message on here or on Tumblr (the URL is the same as my username) and I am happy to converse about it or anything else regarding the fic, the show, or the weather or anything really.**

**I love all your reviews and thank you so much for sharing your thoughts with me!**


	24. Blood and Burial

**This chapter is written entirely from Bonnie's POV. Not for any particular reason but it just happened that way. Thanks for reading and reviewing!**

* * *

Blood and Burial

In the morning Bonnie feels well rested and energized. She starts breakfast while Jeremy is sprawled on the couch and Tyler comes down the stairs, rubbing his eyes. Jeremy's such a deep sleeper that he doesn't wake up.

"Hey," Tyler says, joining her by the stove.

"Hi. How'd you sleep?"

"Pretty much the same."

Bonnie starts cracking eggs into a bowl to scramble whiles Tyler drops strips of bacon into a skillet. She doesn't mention the herbs again even though she wishes he'd use them.

"If Stefan knows anything," she says, "we have to know what." They've still got a job to do and they can't back out now. If Stefan's looking it's best to know if he's on the right track. And if he is, they have to put him on the wrong one.

"He wasn't very interested in sharing."

"He might be more interested in sharing with me. I'll offer to help him."

Tyler looks at her. "You'll _offer_ to help him. That's not obvious at all."

Bonnie smiles. "Out of the three of us, Tyler, who's more likely to want to help? And who's the _least _likely to go on a killing spree? You, the hybrid who lost his friends because of Damon and Stefan? Jeremy, who tried to kill his own sister? Or me, who has always been helpful?"

Spell after spell after spell. She's done more work than any of them with none of the appreciation. She can barely remember the last time one of them thanked her for something. Now that she thinks about it, it may have been Damon. How ironic.

Tyler sighs and turns his attention back to the bacon. "I see your point."

"I'll go see Elena today," Bonnie says. "She's a mess. I'll promise to find who hurt Damon. It's not Stefan's going to be able to do it alone."

"That doesn't mean he'll tell you anything."

"He might."

She hopes he will.

* * *

Bonnie goes to the boarding house right after breakfast. Stefan looks surprised to see her. It's been awhile since she's been by. With saving Tyler and everything, Elena's been an afterthought. It's been a long time since Elena hasn't been at the forefront of Bonnie's mind. "I thought I'd come see her," she says. "How is she?"

"The same," Stefan says. "I thought she might have calmed down some by now but-"

"Yeah," Bonnie agrees. She remembered thinking Elena's constant tears were because of Damon's sudden passing but now there's no telling. "Sire bond, I guess."

"I guess. She's in his room." He's sounds bitter but he's trying hard not to be.

Bonnie knows where that is. It's the only place Elena's seen fit to stay. She's curled up in the bed. At least she's changed clothes since the last time Bonnie saw her. "Hey." She sits next to her and Elena opens her eyes to look up at her.

"Hi," Elena says with a weak attempt at a smile.

They've been here once before. After Elena's parents died this is what they did. Back then they were in Elena's bedroom but the rest of the scene was the same.

"You look nice," Elena says.

Bonnie can't see how. She's just wearing jeans and a sweater but she thanks Elena anyway. "So do you."

Elena cracks a smile and rolls her eyes. "I look like crap." She sits up against the pillows. "Caroline hasn't been over."

"She had a fight with Stefan," Bonnie explains. "It's not about you so don't worry about it."

"I heard them," Elena says. "Whatever Stefan did...he was just trying to help Damon. But that's not an excuse is it?"

Maybe Elena's not so sired anymore. Or maybe it's because Damon isn't there to tell her how to act. It's the first time Elena's talked about one of the brothers that way. She doesn't excuse it.

"No, it's not," Bonnie says with a muted smile.

"Is Tyler okay?"

Back at Bonnie's house having dreams about his dead pack.

"Yeah. His mom left town."

"What about Jeremy?"

Also at Bonnie's house finishing up his breakfast and probably going to start his workout regimen soon.

"He's good, too."

"I wish he'd come by," Elena says. "I miss him."

Bonnie wonders if Jeremy would be up to that. He has more control now. If she can convince him to come, it might help Elena. She feels hypocritical, wanting to _help_ Elena after killing her boyfriend but she ignores that feeling. There's no room for it. She knew this was going to come. Elena would be broken and depressed but she'd decided she could handle knowing that.

"I'll talk to him," Bonnie promises.

Elena smiles contentedly. "I need to get out of bed. I can't stay like this forever."

"Well, you _could_."

The last time Bonnie and Elena spoke she was in this bed like she was stuck in it and getting up was impossible. But now that Bonnie's here, she wants to get up and do things. She has quite the effect. "But I don't want to. Damon wouldn't want me to."

Well maybe Elena's still a little sired.

"Stefan's looking for the people who killed him," Elena says. "I want to help but he's not gonna let me."

"Why not?"

"Because I'm...whatever I am," she sighs. "Will you help him? He can't do it by himself."

If Stefan's downstairs listening, Elena just gave Bonnie a perfect reason to offer her assistance. It's for Elena.

_There's no cause more noble than Elena,_ Bonnie thinks, somewhat bitterly. Then she feels bad again. Tyler's rubbing off some.

"Stefan's more worried about you right now," Bonnie says.

"And I'm more worried about who killed Damon," Elena says. "I mean, we don't know who they are or what they want. They could be coming for all of us."

Bonnie sighs. "I'll talk to Stefan and see if he wants any help."

Elena smiles and takes Bonnie's hand in hers. "Thank you. If you talk to Caroline, will you tell her to come back over? She doesn't have to talk to Stefan if she doesn't want to. She can just hang out with me."

Bonnie wishes they could all just do that again. Forget about Damon and Stefan and everything they've done. If they did that, they could be friends again. But they can't. Bonnie can't and she knows Caroline will never forget what Damon did and maybe she's found her limit with Stefan, too. Elena may have a selective memory but they don't.

"Have you called her?" Bonnie asks.

"Yeah," she says. "We talked on the phone a little but I think she's upset about Tyler so she didn't want to talk long. Maybe if I go back to my house, she'll come. Do you think that would work?"

"Maybe," Bonnie says wondering if Elena really will go back to her house and leave Stefan here on his own. It's been so long since Elena hasn't been attached to one of them. "I'll text her or something."

Elena throws off the covers. "I need blood."

"Do you want me to tell Stefan?"

"No, I'll get it."

Bonnie follows her out and down the stairs. While Elena continues down into the basement, Bonnie goes into the opulent sitting room where Stefan is. "She's getting blood," she explains.

"It's good that she's walking around," he says.

"Yeah," Bonnie agrees. "Look, if you need help with this thing, finding out who killed Damon, I can help you."

"Elena asked you."

"Yeah," she admits, "but she's right. We don't know what they might do next. And if there's a witch involved then I should be involved."

Stefan nods his head slowly. He's thinking. "Did Tyler tell you what we talked about yesterday?"

"Not really," she says. The lie flows easily. Easier than she thought. There's barely a hitch in her heartbeat. "We don't talk really."

"Right," Stefan says, like he just remembered.

"What did you talk about?"

"I apologized," he says, "for what happened with the hybrids. I told him Klaus compelled me."

"Yeah, Caroline told me that part."

"I wouldn't have done it otherwise," Stefan adds. His voice is dripping with sincerity "Do you still want to help me?"

Bonnie nods. "Yes."

"Then let's get started."

* * *

Stefan won't admit to killing the hybrids to make sure he got rid of the one who killed Damon but he's not shy about admitting their deaths may have helped them. "If we assume the hybrid's dead, that leaves the witch and the other one. You can sense witches, right?"

"If I'm around them," she says. "If I touch them but I can't just _know_ where they are."

"What if there were two hybrids?" Stefan asks. "Then that'll just leave the witch."

"But we don't know if there were two," Bonnie says. "It could be another vampire, another witch or anything else. It's safer if we assume there are two left."

Only one of Klaus' hybrids remains. Tyler. Maybe Stefan hasn't connected the dots yet or maybe he thinks killing Damon is too far for even Tyler to go. He seems sure that the hybrid is gone. She decides Stefan is smarter than they give him credit for.

"Why would they go after Damon?" Bonnie asks.

"I don't know," Stefan says. "He was Damon. He had enemies, just like all of us."

They don't _all_ have enemies. Bonnie has enemies that are Elena's enemies but if she wasn't there, who would be around to threaten her? No one. Stefan is her enemy and Damon _was. _

"Did Damon know any witches?"

"The only witch we ever really knew was Emily," Stefan says. "I mean, I guess Damon's pissed off some witches but he pissed off everyone. And no one ever went after him."

Well that's not totally true. Plenty of people have gone after Damon. Elena said Lexi had a boyfriend who tried to kill him once. Bonnie tried to kill Damon once. Stefan's threatened to do it plenty of times.

"I was considering," Stefan says, "looking for Katherine."

Bonnie tries to recall if Katherine ever tried to kill Damon.

"For what?"

"She's got a knack for knowing everything," Stefan says. "If I can find her then maybe she could tell me something."

Katherine's dead and what was left of her is blowing around the woods so that's out.

"If she knows anything," Bonnie points out. "If she doesn't, what are you gonna do?"

"I don't have anything else to try."

"She won't help you if Klaus is around."

"I'll go to her," he says. Bonnie can't believe he's willing to leave town, after Damon's died and Elena's decided only today to remain in a vertical position for at least an hour or so. "Can you do a locator spell or something?"

"I'll need Elena's blood."

There are plenty of reasons to explain away the spell not working. Katherine could have found a witch to hide her the same way Bonnie hid Mrs. Lockwood. Or maybe it just won't work because Bonnie's magic isn't strong enough. Perhaps the bloodline isn't as potent. Elena and Katherine have whole generations between them. There's no reason it should work perfectly.

"Okay." Elena stands in the doorway, sipping from a blood bag. She still looks miserable but at least she's not so obvious about it. She finishes off the bag and goes for the kitchen where she pulls a knife from one of the drawers.

"Do you have a map?" Bonnie asks.

Stefan goes to find one. When he comes back, he unfolds it and spreads it across the table. It's the whole country.

"On the map," Bonnie says.

Elena nods and makes a clean cut on the palm of her hand. The blood drips onto the paper and expands in deep, red circles.

Stefan and Elena watch as Bonnie says the incantation. The blood moves in tiny lines across the map, crossing state lines, rivers and tiny towns. The blood stops in Mystic Falls. Bonnie could move it further but she doesn't.

"It didn't work," Elena says.

Stefan looks to Bonnie. "What happened?"

"It didn't work. Unless you think Katherine's here somewhere," Bonnie says. "They're doppelgangers so they're the same. The spell found Elena."

"You're sure?"

"Yeah," Bonnie says. "I mean, Katherine might have covered her tracks. If she found a witch wiling to do it, one of them could have done a spell to shield her. A locator spell wouldn't work."

Stefan curses, turns in a slow circle with his frustration written all over his face. "It was a long shot anyway." But when he turns and disappears around the corner, Bonnie can tell he was hoping for Katherine's help more than he let on.

Elena watches him go and looks back to Bonnie expectantly. "Now what?"

She tries to put herself in the mindset of someone actually looking for these people, the hybrid, the witch and their partner. She tries to remember what all Damon said about them. Nothing much, not while she was there at least.

"Did Damon say anything else about them?" Bonnie asks.

"He said there was a hybrid and a witch," Elena answers, "but he wasn't lucid enough to say anything else. He mentioned Stefan but I can't tell if that was because he wanted Stefan or because they said something about Stefan. And...he said something about the town and protecting it. But...he was hallucinating so..."

She looks like she may start crying again.

"It's okay," Bonnie says hurriedly. She doesn't want Elena retreating to Damon's room again. "We'll figure this out." She wants to assure Elena that she's not in danger, that she's completely safe. But that might not give her any peace either. Stefan and Damon are so central to her life now. Anything that happens to them, happens to her. But when it's over Elena will still be alive. Bonnie thinks of her Grams, of Abby. Grams is dead and Abby's life was destroyed but Bonnie should be able to live with it. Elena will live without Stefan and Damon.

Welcome to Mystic Falls where everyone has to learn to live without someone.

"Come on," Bonnie says. "Let's go find Caroline. We'll go to the Grill. Just us."

She knows she'll have to come back later to help Stefan and hopefully she'll leave knowing just how much danger they're in.

* * *

Bonnie returns to her house after lunch with Caroline and Elena. Even though she was quieter than usual, Elena was better than she'd been since Damon died. She even laughed a little. Caroline told them how she missed Tyler, how she was sorry, sad that Mrs. Lockwood was gone. Bonnie could tell she wanted to call him and ask Tyler himself how he was but she wasn't going to. They were broken up and Caroline was single and she wasn't going to appear desperate. But if Tyler called Caroline today and wanted to get back together, Bonnie knew she'd agree.

"Hey," Jeremy says as Bonnie comes in the front door. He's sitting on the couch. The scene has become so normal she doesn't even blink at it anymore. "You've been gone forever. You find out anything?"

"Nothing new," Bonnie sighs. "Where's Tyler?"

"He's asleep. He said he didn't get much last night."

She's going to make some tea using those herbs and force it down his throat the first chance she gets. Probably in a few minutes.

"Elena wants to see you," she says.

Jeremy doesn't look at her. "Interesting."

"She was doing a lot better today. It was almost like she was the old Elena."

"You want me to go?"

"Just for a little while," she says. "It was _really_ nice with her today. She said she misses you."

He still looks hesitant so Bonnie drops down next to him on the sofa. "Come on, Jeremy. We killed her boyfriend."

"One of her boyfriends killed one of my girlfriends once."

Bonnie thinks how sad it is that either of them can say those things.

"Jeremy. Please."

"I'll go for half an hour."

She passes him her keys. "Thank you. Don't kill Stefan."

"I won't," he says, "not without you and Tyler at least."

When he's gone she makes the tea for Tyler and goes up to her dad's room. He's not sleeping after all. Instead he's sitting at the bed's edge and looking out the window.

"How long have you been up?"

"Since you started coming up the stairs," he answers. "You made tea."

"I added those herbs I mentioned." She passes him the cup and he starts drinking it without argument.

* * *

When Bonnie wakes up, it's dark outside. The house is the quietest it's been in days and she knows then both the boys are asleep, too. She rolls over in bed to stare up at her ceiling and her stupid Spice Girls poster, smiling when she remembers Tyler teasing her about it. Jeremy got back within an hour of leaving and according to him it went fairly well with Elena. She talked more than he did but she was happy to see him and didn't mention Damon at all really. Stefan keeping his distance helped, too. She can hear him snoring downstairs.

But she can't hear Tyler. He's always quiet.

Bonnie reaches for him with her magic. He's asleep under the covers but the herbs aren't working. Not well anyway because he's saying their names again.

Bryant. Lana. Steven. Jack. Adrian. Cora. Sabrina. Chase. Kevin. Casey. Hope. Kim.

She climbs out of bed to go to him and sits down at his side to touch his shoulder. He wakes up as soon as she touches him.

"Good dream or bad?"

Tyler sits up and the blanket falls away to reveal his bare chest. Her eyes linger on the part that she'd seen broken open and his heart underneath. "Kind of in between."

"I can make more tea," she offers.

"I don't think it'll help."

"What will?"

Tyler doesn't even need to think about it. "I have to go back."

"To the cellar?"

"They're still there, aren't they?"

"Unless Klaus moved them."

Tyler moves to get out out of bed.

"I'll go with you," she says.

"You don't have to. It's late."

"Well, you're not going by yourself."

They don't wake Jeremy when they go but Bonnie leaves a note on the coffee table for him in case he wakes up. They go back to the Lockwood place where the lights are still on though the house is vacant. Tyler keeps his eyes forward like he doesn't want to look at it. They walk to the cellar, their hands stuffed in their respective pockets. His eyes scan the darkness and her magic feels out in every direction.

They're alone.

They descend into the cellar where the smell of death is suffocating.

Bonnie lingers at the door while Tyler goes to them. They haven't been moved after all. He stays with each of them for a moment, touching them. The one named Bryant is first. He has a head of shaggy blond hair, twisted all the way around by a furious Klaus.

She hears him saying their names. Saying he's sorry.

He stays for a long time with the hybrid at the front. She hears him as he calls her Kim. When she hears him crying, she doesn't know if he wants her to comfort him. He seems so very solitary in this moment that she thinks it might not be her place but she goes anyway and kneels next to him.

He's quiet except for a sniff here and there.

He's been sitting so still she jumps when he speaks. "I have to bury them."

"I'll help you."

He only allows her to make the holes. After he's led her to where he buried Hayley, she makes twelve holes with waves of her hands. He carries them one by one, their bodies over his shoulder and lowers them into the ground gently. She thinks he's doing it in the order he's said their names. Bryant. Lana. Steven. Jack. Adrian. Cora. Sabrina. Chase. Kevin. Casey. Hope.

Kim is last.

When it's done, he straightens up and stares down at them. Finally he gives her the okay and she buries them beneath the cold earth. He still doesn't move and she goes to stand at his side.

"Tyler." She doesn't even know what she's going to say.

"Stefan can deny it all he wants but he knew what he was doing when he told Klaus."

"We can handle Stefan. And we will."

"They died because of me. I'm the hybrid that killed Damon."

"And I'm the witch," Bonnie says, "but they died because of Stefan and Klaus. They'll pay for that, I promise. I'm going back to the boarding house tomorrow. I'll figure out what he knows."

"What did you do today?"

"He wanted to find Katherine."

Tyler raises an eyebrow. "That's random."

"He thought she could help him."

"How'd that go?"

"The spell didn't work."

He looks down at her and they both smile. "No, that spell probably didn't work."

His smile fades as he looks back at the graves and she hugs him.

"Bonnie," he says, "I've been carrying around dead hybrids."

And he smells like it but she keeps her arms around him anyway. "I can take a shower."

As his arms go around her waist, he laughs. "You're gonna need one." He's so tall she has to stand on the tips of her toes. It's the same way with Jeremy. "I'm never gonna be able to thank you enough."

"For saving your life?"

"Yes," he says, "and agreeing to do this."

"It's like your third time saying that," Bonnie says.

They're still hugging and even though Tyler's just as cold as the air around them, he's warming up against her.

"I don't think it's my _third."_

When she finally releases him, she loops her arm through his and tugs him away.

"I have another idea," she says, before they reach the car, "to find out what Stefan knows. It's better than my first one."

It's occurred to her suddenly. And it's so obvious she doesn't know why she didn't think of it sooner.

"What?"

"Stefan likes to journal."

* * *

**I feel like this chapter is super fillery but there's some action as the trio goes after Stefan's journal in the next chapter. **


	25. Here and There

**This one is all Jeremy and Tyler. It'll return to the usual next chapter. **

* * *

Here and There

"We can use the same spell we used in the tomb," Bonnie says. "I'll send Jeremy through and he'll find it, read it."

Trying to steal it is out of the question. Stefan will definitely notice it's missing and there's no way he won't suspect Bonnie now that she's "helping" him.

They start immediately. Jeremy lies on the floor between Bonnie and Tyler in her bedroom, now a fire hazard with all the candles. "Check his room first," she says.

"I was actually thinking of trying the bathroom," Jeremy says sarcastically.

"Shut up," Bonnie sighs. He can tell she's nervous but he doesn't see why. The last time they did this it went perfectly.

"What date should I start on?" he asks. They can do all this talking once he's under but he thinks she needs calming down anyway and at least this inquiry is a serious one.

"The day Damon died," Tyler says. "Read it out loud. I'll be taking notes." He's already got the notebook and pen ready. Jeremy had a joke ready about Tyler being more eager to take notes here than he was in class but it's not very funny and Bonnie doesn't seem like she'd appreciate the lack of humor.

"Okay," Jeremy says. "What day was that again?"

They look at him like he should know but since neither of them is answering right away it's a harder question than they think. Tyler has to take out his phone and count back the days.

"It was the 26th," Bonnie says before Tyler can answer. "The day after Christmas."

"Okay," Jeremy says. "Now I'm ready." He remembers the spiel. Minimized strength and he burns there, he burns here. He knows, he knows. Bonnie's already repeated it.

Just as before she dips her fingertips into a bowl of water and touches his temples. He falls into her voice as she speaks. He never knows what she's saying but he knows he likes how she sounds: serene and overflowing with tension at once.

When he opens his eyes he's in front of the entrance to the boarding house. At first glance it looks empty and he can't hear anyone but he's sure Elena's around and surely Stefan. "I'm going upstairs."

He jogs up the staircase and runs into Elena at the landing. She's pulling on her jacket, humming to herself. She _is_ a lot better but it's bittersweet. She's still living out of Damon's room, doing what she thinks he'd want. It's a mystery if she truly _is_ better or if she's just tricking herself into thinking she is for the sake of dead vampire. She goes past him and he hears the front door open and close.

"Elena just left," he says.

_She's having breakfast with Matt. _

Bonnie's voice is everywhere.

"So I guess it's just me and Stefan."

_Have you seen him yet?_

"No," Jeremy says. He bends his steps toward Damon's room and peeks in. Then Stefan's. He's not there either. "Maybe he went out for breakfast, too."

_Lucky us,_ Bonnie says though he can tell she's still not feeling very lucky. He'll be glad when this is over and she can see how she worried for nothing.

Even though Stefan's not there he still goes through the room slowly and carefully, putting everything back in its place when he moves it. He checks the bed, smoothing his hands over the sheets, under the pillows. Not there. Then he moves to Stefan's desk where there are photos and newspaper clippings and weird Stefan-like trinkets. It's also loaded with research on the cure, a couple of the drawings Jeremy did back when they were on the same team.

_Find it?_

"I'm looking."

He checks the closet, under the bed, underneath the rug for any loose floorboards. He even checks the bathroom.

"He either carries it on him constantly," Jeremy sighs, "or he hid it." He can't imagine why Stefan feels the need to hide his journal in a house lived in only by him and Elena. Unless he was worried Damon might read it or if he thinks someone else may be interested in reading it. Maybe there is something important in there.

_Or his journaling isn't confined to his room_. Bonnie's using her _duh_ voice. If she's still nervous, she's hiding it well.

"I'll check the other rooms."

He goes to each one. And finds nothing. Even so the house is so big he doesn't think he can cover the whole place on his own. He's about to tell Bonnie this as he's going down the staircase when he spots Stefan.

He's sitting in the living room in front of the fire, drinking from a glass of something alcoholic and scribbling in, of all things, his journal.

"Stefan's here," Jeremy says. "He's writing in it."

He hears Bonnie sigh. _Of course he is_.

"Well, while I'm here," Jeremy says. "You think there's a stake around?"

_Tyler says we should shoot for some originality, _Bonnie says.

"I prefer getting the job done," he says. But killing Stefan isn't today's job anyway. He goes to look over Stefan's shoulder. "I'm reading what he wrote for today."

_Tyler says feel free to share with the class_.

"That sounds like a direct quote."

_It was._

"He wrote about Elena...Blah blah blahibity blah...Nothing of importance...Wait."

_What?_

"He's been talking to Shane. About the cure."

Bonnie's quiet for awhile. She's either telling Tyler or she's thinking. Jeremy suspects she's thinking. Did Shane not tell her he was talking to Stefan?

_What else?_

"Shane told him I can lead them to the cure...Stuff we already know...Blahibity blah...Needs you to do it."

_What else?_

Jeremy waits for Stefan to finish that page and turn to a clean one. But for some reason he's stopped writing.

"Hold on," Jeremy says. "Stefan's brooding."

He knows Stefan can't hear or see him but something's caught his attention. He closes the journal, drops it on the table and stands. "Someone's outside," Jeremy says. "He's going to the door."

_Who?_

"Don't know," Jeremy says. "I'm going for the book."

As soon as Stefan's out of sight, Jeremy drops down to open up the journal. It's leather-bound and worn, heavy in his hand. He flips through the pages carefully, slowly, trying to be as quiet as possible. He finds the pages from the 26th easily and skims.

"Stuff about missing Damon, he can't believe he's gone...Elena told him Damon mentioned a hybrid and a witch."

"I have things to do. Make it fast."

It's Caroline's voice.

"Caroline's here," he says, glancing over his shoulder. They don't seem to be coming this way, their footsteps are getting further and further away from him, so he keeps going. Bonnie doesn't ask why Caroline's there and he supposes that information is irrelevant for the time being. He turns his attention back to the pages in front of him. "He mentions Klaus is going to expect him to give him the info he promised. He says, '_Klaus will expect repayment even without helping me. I have what he wants though giving it up is complicated notion now. How can I when I know Damon is still dead? And I'll be condemning others to the same fate? Damon's dead either way.'_"

"Maybe he was telling the truth about being compelled," Jeremy says. He can see Tyler's face, totally disbelieving of _that_.

_Keep reading_.

He turns the page. Stefan doesn't write for the next day or so. The next entry reads about Bonnie and Caroline coming over to be with Elena, Stefan not knowing what to say to her about Damon when it was so tense between the three of them before he died. He tells Bonnie everything. The next day is the 30th, the night Klaus went on his killing spree.

It gets really interesting.

"He wrote, '_The hybrid that bit Damon will be dead by morning. After I told Klaus what they'd been doing, I assumed he'd go right away. I feel like it's all those years ago and my brother hates me and has left. But Damon hasn't left, he's been taken. Coming back is impossible. I'll never see him again and I'm consumed now with bringing those responsible to justice. "_

"Well, nevermind on the compulsion part then," Jeremy says.

Bonnie says, _Justice. Nice word choice. _

"Tell me about it," Jeremy says. "There's more. '_We're not safe here. We've never been safe here and though a part of me knows leaving would be best, I can't bear the thought of leaving Elena to face this alone and she'll never go with me. Jeremy's still here, as are all her memories of Damon. She will never leave. I haven't told her about my thoughts. When they hear what's happened to the pack, she and Caroline may never forgive me. But I feel the same as I did when Klaus compelled me to turn off my feelings. I don't feel anything. It is as though Damon took all that was left of me with him. This was the best way, the fastest one to get Damon some kind of retribution.'_"

Jeremy flips forward, scanning the pages, looking for their names. He feels like he's been there for too long and he glances over his shoulder, listens for Stefan or Caroline but sees and hears nothing. His gaze finds Tyler's name.

"It's from the day Klaus went after Mrs. Lockwood," Jeremy says_. "'Klaus attempted to kill Carol Lockwood tonight. I'm not surprised though I'm sorry she became a target of his rage. I didn't tell Klaus what I planned. He told Tyler about my part in it and went after Carol. If I'd told him I might have saved myself some trouble. Even if I had, he's not good at practicing restraint. But Carol's innocent and I'm glad I was able to help her. It's a small consolation after what I did. I thought I didn't care but I do. Caroline was-'" _

Stefan's handwriting cuts off and the ink runs across the page like he's lost his train of the thought or at least the words necessary to complete it.

"'_She was furious. I didn't expect Tyler to break up with her. She loves him and I took advantage of her confidence, her trust to hurt someone she loves. Now she's hurting too. She may never speak to me again and I can't blame her. Still the lie I told her was more acceptable than the truth.'"_

Jeremy's unwittingly interested, completely entranced. It reminds him of when he read Elena's journal and all her secrets inside of it. It infuriated him to know all the lies she'd told. With her, he'd expected different. From Stefan he expected much worse.

"'_Tyler suspects I wasn't completely honest but Klaus has agreed to stick with my story. He won't tell anyone but I'm worried he may be tempted by Caroline but she won't let him near her after what he did. I considered asking Tyler for help in identifying the guilty hybrid and possibly the witch and their third partner. He was the Alpha after all but he wouldn't help me after this.'_"

He turns the page.

He's so occupied with that page he doesn't hear someone come in, trying hard to be quiet. But he hears an automated whoosh and feels heat at his back.

A thousand things go through his mind.

_If you get set on fire there, you'll burn here,_ Bonnie said, the first time they did this.

_Yeah, Bonnie_, he thinks. _I know._

Jeremy doesn't believe in karma. But maybe it believes in him.

Somewhere, Damon's laughing.

He's screaming and he knows Bonnie can hear him. She's pulling him back but he doesn't know if he's made it there because he's overcome with the familiar feeling of dying.

* * *

This may be the closest Bonnie will ever come to being hysterical.

Jeremy hasn't woken up. She gets up from the floor so fast it's like she's the one with super speed, putting as much space between her and Jeremy's charred body as possible. Tyler follows her downstairs where she gets a glass of water and drinks it so fast he's sure she's going to spit it all up again, especially since she's crying.

He hasn't seen her cry before. She almost did, the night she brought him back to life. Now her eyes are wet and looking greener than ever, maybe because he's staring at them so hard, like he's the magical one and can simply _will_ her to stop crying. Tears track down her cheeks. It touches him somewhere, that she's crying for Jeremy, that she tried not to cry for him. That she cares at all. He doesn't like her crying.

"Bonnie," he says, gently. "He's gonna be fine."

She gets more water, gulps that down, too. She would probably try to get more if Tyler didn't take the glass from her and drop it into the sink. "You're going to drown yourself." Now that her hands are free, she wipes her face.

"I knew something was going to happen," she says.

She did. She was nervous from the start, for no discernible reason. He's starting to realize Bonnie has a reason for everything she does. Witch's intuition. "I knew it. I shouldn't have let him go. I shouldn't have-"

"Come here," he says.

It's more of a mutual meeting in the middle when he slides his arms around her and she rests her head against his chest. She's shaking and warm. He holds her tighter. He's at a point where hugging Bonnie, touching her at all is as natural as breathing. They fit together easier now. Her crying is slowing down.

It was a shock to him, too. Jeremy suddenly screaming, pained by something neither of them could see and them just having to sit there and watch the burns as they intensified. They knew the risks when they decided to do this. Then it hadn't seemed much different from the risk they took just by being in town. Going after Damon and Stefan was always going to be dangerous but now it hit him, and Bonnie, too. They could die doing this. Jeremy just died. Not even Tyler's own death had affected him like this. Klaus was always dangerous, a hazard that came with Mystic Falls. This was different, it felt different.

"When we go back up there," Tyler says, rubbing her back, his fingers brushing against her hair, "he's going to be healed and it'll be fine."

"It might not be fine," she says. If his hearing wasn't heightened he would have had to ask her to repeat herself because she's spoken so softly. "His ring..."

_Jeremy's ring_.

It's not all it's cracked up to be.

Welcome to Mystic Falls, where most things aren't.

"We'll figure it out," he says anyway. "We'll take care of him."

Bonnie's phone rings but she holds onto him anyway like she doesn't want to answer. He doesn't want her to answer either. He'd rather keep his arms around her because he's a little worried, too. If this was what her and Jeremy felt like the night he died, he wants to apologize again for the way he acted because he hates this, this feeling of having to wait. Of knowing that Jeremy's dead at all, that he died, that he was killed and there was nothing they could do. Outside this house no one understands. Whoever it is on the phone, they can call back when they're not so...the way they are. Then she jerks away from him and fishes her phone from her pocket urgently.

"What's wrong?"

"It's Stefan," she says before putting the phone to her ear. "Yeah?"

"Someone was in the house," Stefan says on the other end. "I think the witch. She did some kind of spell. I remember Damon..." He trails off for awhile then regroups. How long before he's able to say Damon's name without that pause? "Something similar happened once with Damon. I used the flamethrower. We still had it. I-"

"Are you hurt?"

Bonnie's a good actress. Tyler can't even hear the tears in her voice anymore and she sounds genuinely concerned for Stefan.

"No, I'm okay," he says. "Can you come over? Maybe you'll see something I don't. They were after my journal."

"Why would they want that?"

"I don't know," he answers. He's exasperated, frustrated. Tyler wonders if Caroline is still there. "So can you? Come by, I mean?"

Bonnie looks up at Tyler and he nods his head. He'll more than capable of staying with Jeremy while she's gone and they don't have the option of refusing him. If they're trying to keep the suspicion off themselves, Bonnie has to go. She has to be available. She _has_ to go.

"Yeah," she tells him. "I'll be there in a few."

After she hangs up, she stares at the phone for a few seconds. "I have to go," she says, even though she knows he's heard the whole conversation. He can hear it in her voice, she doesn't want to go. "I can try to look at the journal while I'm there. I might be able to make something up."

If Jeremy was holding it when Stefan lit him up it's not likely the journal will be of any help to them now.

"Maybe you shouldn't," he says. "If Stefan suspects, we don't know what he'll do. Just...do what you did yesterday. Don't worry about the journal."

Stefan burned Jeremy to death. He doesn't want anything else happening to any of them today. But she's going to worry about the damn thing anyway, he knows she will. She's Bonnie.

He puts his arms around her again and she makes a faint, humming noise, content and quiet against his chest. "You're a good hugger, Lockwood," she says. Maybe she can feel him smiling.

"Thanks, Bennett. You're okay at it."

She whacks his arm. "Text me when he wakes up?"

"Definitely."

Bonnie grabs her purse from the table. "When I get back, we'll talk about what Jeremy found. And...I'll talk to Shane."

"Okay." He doesn't know what to make of that thing with Shane and Stefan. He knows nothing about him except he's helping Bonnie and he appreciates a good frat party. Maybe Bonnie should handle it, if there's anything to handle. It seems very innocent, talking about the cure but why hasn't he mentioned it to Bonnie?

"Bye," she says. She gives him a little wave.

Once she goes out the door, he gets some water for Jeremy and goes upstairs to wait.

* * *

Waking up after dying always comes with a start, like something has jolted him out of death. The last time Jeremy came out of this same spell Bonnie hugged him. Now that he thinks about it, there was a certain time he died when she was there, too. And there was some forehead touching involved. When he opens his eyes this time, she's not there.

"Bonnie?" he says, knowing he sounds love struck and tired, with a throat that was just full of fire.

"Hey." He turns his head and it's Tyler sitting there instead. He passes him a cup of water that Jeremy gulps down eagerly. "Stefan called. She had to go."

Jeremy nods in understanding. Yeah, Stefan _would_ call Bonnie after what happened.

"I'll text her," Tyler says. "Let her know you're okay. She was worried."

"I was wearing my ring," he says. "She didn't have to worry."

"The ring was what worried her."

Jeremy turns it around on his finger. Even knowing what happened to Alaric, he likes the ring and he's glad to have it. It's saved his life so many times but he imagines Alaric must have felt betrayed by it, this ring that had spent so many years saving him from the murderous whims of supernaturals. It hasn't betrayed Jeremy yet. He wants to imagine that it won't but it will, someday. Still, he won't take it off. Being alive is something he values. Then again Alaric might have taken death over everything that happened with him.

But Jeremy's not so sure.

Welcome to Mystic Falls, where you have to take whatever advantages you can find.

"Do you feel okay?" Tyler asks.

"I feel fine. My back hurts but I feel fine." With that, he stands up and stretches some. When he's done he sits on Bonnie's bed and glances up to her ceiling and her Spice Girls poster.

"What do you think about the thing with Shane?" Tyler asks.

"What do _you_ think?"

"I think," Tyler says, "we should let Bonnie handle it for now."

Jeremy nods his head slowly thinking about Bonnie maybe having a little thing for the professor. Caroline's voice rings in his head: _Do you know what the age of consent is in Virginia? _He drops some mental curse words and ignores Tyler when he starts to laugh. "She might need our help."

"If she needs help, she'll ask," Tyler says.

"Yeah, I know."

But Bonnie doesn't like to ask.

Then again, Jeremy doesn't think she'd really have to ask either of them.

* * *

**Thank you so much for your reviews. I really do love reading them and I appreciate you taking the time to write them. **


	26. It's Good To Want Things

It's Good To Want Things

The journal is burned.

Bonnie thought it might be but she'd hoped there was some of it that was salvageable. There may be a few readable lines here and there but it's hard to check with Stefan hovering. That and he's carrying it around with him, locked in his hand. There's a running undercurrent of instability when he talks to her. He's still Stefan, still calm and calculated but he walks a bit faster than he did before, talks a bit faster.

"If they can get into the house," he says, "when I can't even _see_ them..."

"There are herbs that may work," she says, her gaze lingering on the flamethrower in the corner. "To block the magic. I'll get them and put them around the house."

"Thanks."

"No problem." She circles the living room, pretending to do some kind of magical sensory something. "I'll get them, make some bags, bring them back. I'll see you." She touches his shoulder in some semblance of comfort before going out the door.

* * *

Caroline comes over.

Tyler's first instinct is to say, "Bonnie's not here. You just missed her." And then he wonders if he should be answering Bonnie's door at all.

"I know," Caroline says, rocking back and forth on her heels. He's not the only one uncomfortable. "I came to see you."

"Oh," Tyler says. They haven't been broken up very long but it feels like a wall has been raised in the time they've been apart. Suddenly the things he knew about Caroline don't seem to apply anymore. "Well, okay. Come in." She steps past him into the house and they linger in front of the door. He's about to ask her if she wants to sit down when she speaks.

"Stefan wanted to see me today," she says.

"That's not unusual." They're still friends. If they're being honest, Caroline's the only true friend Stefan's got.

"But I told him I didn't want to talk to him anymore," she explains. "I only went over there because I...I don't know, I wanted to hear what he had to say. I wanted to see if this could make sense somehow."

Tyler cocks his head to the side. "Well?"

"I know he helped your mom and I'm really sorry she had to leave."

"Me too."

Silence.

"So," he says finally, "what did you want to talk about?"

"Stefan's not all there right now," she says.

Has Stefan ever been _all_ there?

Still, he tries to look confused. "What do you mean?"

"I was with him and he was different," she says_, _"and I don't know what he'll do or what he's trying to do. There's so much going on right now with Klaus and Elena and the cure and Damon. He's not making a lot of sense."

Neither is Caroline really but he doesn't say that.

"Basically," she says, "I'm telling you to be careful because..." In her face, he can see it. She's conflicted, always conflicted, always wary of picking a side. "I know Klaus killed the hybrids but Stefan's not exactly...you know..."

"...I don't."

"He's not very upset about it," she finishes.

"You're not really endearing him to me right now, Care."

"I'm not trying to. He's _not_ himself. He thinks the hybrid that killed Damon died _but..."_

At this rate, they'll never finish this conversation.

"Caroline, what?"

"I just want you to be careful," she says. "I don't want anything to happen to you."

"You think Stefan might do something to me?"

If Caroline thinks so, maybe they should all think so but she shakes her head. "I don't know. He's worried you might do something to him."

"Well, I'd certainly be justified, wouldn't I?" He can't stop the animosity from creeping into his tone.

For a moment he thinks Caroline will say no, he's not_, _two wrongs don't make a right or something like that. Instead she nods. "You would be." He has another one of those moments where he thinks about telling her everything.

Caroline takes a step toward him and falters. "Are you doing okay?"

He's surprised by the sudden change in topic but he supposes they can't talk about Stefan forever.

"Yeah," he says, surprised to realize it's true. He feels better now that he's buried the pack and Jeremy's perfectly fine upstairs. He'll freak out about Stefan as soon as Bonnie comes back with whatever information she was able to get from him but for now he feels okay.

"You haven't gone home."

"Bonnie won't let me." _I don't really want to anyway. _"She's worried Klaus will try to kill me again."

"So you're just going to stay here?"

Tyler glances around Bonnie's living room. Some of Jeremy's crap is lying around and little trinkets belonging to Bonnie's dad. Not to mention the pictures of Bonnie, as a kid, a few Homecomings ago, in her cheerleading uniform. He's getting used to it. "We're working on it."

"I can talk to Klaus."

"Caroline-"

"He's been trying to talk to me ever since he found out I knew what happened," she says, talking over him the way Caroline likes to do when she knows he won't like what she's saying, "and I haven't been talking to him obviously but if I can get him to let you go home then-"

"You don't have to do that," he says. "I'm okay here."

"I'll talk to him."

"Caroline."

"Tyler. Let me do something for you."

"I don't mind being here," he says.

"But you'll have to go back to school," she points out. "And you can't just _not_ leave Bonnie's house. I'll talk to him. That's...that."

He has to go back to school. They were just talking about graduation, giving themselves an impossible deadline for this thing but he still forgot about school. It'll start back up again soon. Classes and homework and college applications. "Okay. Be careful."

"Okay."

Her fingers brush against his and it would be so easy to lace their fingers together and pull her in for a kiss. It's what she wants and she came here to see him because she didn't want him to get hurt. "Caroline, I don't want..." He doesn't know what he wants but he knows it's not this. The reasons they broke up still exist. She pulls away like she's been burned.

"I'm sorry," she says quickly.

"No, I'm...sorry."

"I should go." She pulls open the door and goes without another word while Tyler stays at the door watching her. When her car rounds the corner, he closes the door.

* * *

Tyler's in the kitchen when Bonnie gets back, scribbling on a crossword but looking distracted. When she looks over his shoulder she's certain he is because the only word he's written in any of the squares is Caroline. "Hey," she says.

"Hey," Tyler says. He shifts slightly and his arm covers the puzzle. "He's upstairs."

"Is he okay?"

"He's fine."

"You didn't tell him I was crying, did you?" she asks.

"I told him you were upset," Tyler says with a smile that tugs at the corner of his mouth. "I didn't mention the tears."

"Good," Bonnie says. "I'll go talk to him and then we can talk about Stefan. But then I have to go back over there but..." She waves her hand. "I'll explain later."

"Sounds good." He looks like he wants to tell her something but he seems to change his mind. "We'll talk when you're done. You go ahead."

Upstairs Jeremy's sitting on her bed looking through her old photo album. He looks startled when she comes in and sets it on her nightstand. "Hey," he says with a smile that's so earnest it almost makes her want to cry. "You're back."

"Yeah," she says, sitting down with him. "Do you feel okay?"

"As I've told Tyler, I feel fine," he says. "How'd it go with Stefan?"

"I don't want to talk about Stefan." They have plenty of time to talk about Stefan. They _will_ talk about Stefan. They talk about Stefan and Damon and them being dead more than anything and for a few minutes she just wants to sit with Jeremy and talk about how he died today and how she's glad he's okay now. She tries to replace the image of him burned and dying with this Jeremy, alive and well.

"Okay," Jeremy says. "We won't talk about Stefan. What do you want to talk about?"

"You. I'm glad you're okay."

"So am I," he says. "I thought you'd be there when I woke up."

"I wanted to be," she says. "But he called and I-"

"It's okay. You're here now."

There's a silence that drags.

"Can I ask you a question?"

Jeremy's never had to ask before. "Yeah."

"Why did you kiss me the other night?" he asks.

"I wanted to." She so rarely does anything just because she wants to. She must always be justified, there has to be a reason, a good, valid reason. A better reason than Jeremy's got big arms and a sweet face and those very brown eyes and goofy smile. A reason better than because she had an urge. "I still want to."

"So what's stopping you?"

It takes her a long time to answer, to decide if she really wants to go there today only a couple of hours after Jeremy died and came back to life. She decides she might as well. "There was a time when you wanted to kiss a ghost instead of me."

Jeremy drops his head and looks down at his hands. "I fucked up."

A bit of an understatement there.

"Do you know how humiliating that was? I had to hear about it from Caroline, who heard it from Elena, who saw it_._" She didn't even get the option of making up a more flattering, less embarrassing story that involved around the breakup being her idea or something because her friends knew before she did. Elena, who had two homicidal, unstable vampires willing to do anything for her, Caroline who had Tyler, and Bonnie who had Jeremy, who she loved, who was in love with a dead vampire and not her.

"I loved you," she says. She's gotten past being angry, or sad, or whatever else she'd felt then. Now she's just remembering. It's like telling a story that wasn't really hers, one that happened to some other girl.

"I'm sorry."

That's all he'll ever be able to say. He's sorry, he's sorry, he's sorry. Will it ever be enough? Can she take that and run with it and be glad she got it? No one ever apologizes to her. This is something she should be pleased with. But she's not and she must be pathetic because she wants to be. She's about to graduate from high school and all she'll have to show from it is a diploma. The yearbook they give her will have a grand total of _one_ photo of her inside of it and it'll be the required photo for her school ID. All her memories are scarred by vampires and werewolves and hybrids and witches. And she can't even have a perfectly normal high school romance to reminisce over in college.

If she ever gets there.

But she could have _something_. Jeremy's right here and if he didn't love her then, she thinks he might love her now. Tyler thinks so. Everyone else thinks so. Maybe they're right.

"I'm sorry," he repeats. And then, as Bonnie's considering this conversation stalled and possibly over, "I don't know if you still feel the way you did about me but I still feel that way about you."

It's not the words. Bonnie's never thought she's one of those people who needs the words. And maybe she's not because she all she wants to do is kiss him.

And maybe more.

"Do you want to have sex?"

"What?"

"I'm glad you're okay," she says. "And I want to have sex. We would have the other night. Now we're just..." She should be going back to the boarding house instead. She's got things to do but it's not like Stefan's gonna die while they're here. Who's gonna kill him if not them?

"You said..." His voice trails off. He knows what she said but she can tell by his face he doesn't know how to repeat it. She supposes it is a little awkward to repeat that you broke the heart of the girl currently asking you to sleep with her. And she hasn't had it in awhile. And she's _tired. _Really tired, of being the only one not having it. The only one not having anyone.

"I know," she says. "But I want us to do this again. It was good the first time." Which happened to be the last time as well.

There's some kind of historical pattern forming. The first time they slept together it was at the dead witches' house, the night after she died. And now they might have their sexual reunion after he's died. Symmetry.

"It was great the first time," he corrects.

"Yeah. So...?"

"I want to be with you," he says. "However you'll have me."

So she kisses him.

Until the other night, Bonnie had forgotten what a _thorough_ kisser Jeremy is. Perfectly, amazingly, toe curlingly _thorough_. Like he wants to know everything about her through this one kiss, like it's even possible. He tongue skates across her lip before tangling with her own and when he nips that same lip with his teeth, she can't help but smile. She pulls him down with her and he moves on top of her effortlessly, easily, without taking his lips off hers. He's warm. Very, very warm. Bonnie isn't aware of how cold her hands were until she's placed them on his chest and slid them underneath his shirt to wander along his stomach.

"Take it off," she murmurs, against his mouth.

He obeys.

Her eyes zero in on the tattoo on his arm as he comes back down to kiss her and then they're closed because he's _such _a good kisser. He could take that kiss and sell it on the road, to people all over the country, become famous for it. _Forget being a hunter, Jeremy, just be a kisser. _

Bonnie misses his lips, in a way that's embarrassing, when he moves to her neck. But then she stops caring because Jeremy's a good kisser no matter where he's kissing. She'd forgotten that, too.

But she's beginning to remember.

And by the end of it, she won't be able to see how she ever forgot. His hands everywhere, moving everywhere, knowing where to go without any direction from her. Has he remembered this whole time? Exactly what she likes? He must have because it's good. So very, very _good_. She's out of her pants before he is though neither of them has made a move to get her shirt off. She'd protest if Jeremy didn't take that blessed mouth of his to drop kisses on her stomach, his fingers working at her jeans.

"Jeremy," she says, barely whispering as she raises her hips so he can pull her jeans down. There was something she wanted to say.

"Bonnie?" He's grinning as she wiggles out of her panties next.

"Do you have a condom?" _Please say you have a condom_.

"In my bag," he says. "Downstairs."

"Go get it."

"Be right back," he promises, sealing it with a kiss. Even the little kisses are good kisses. It leaves her wanting more. _  
_

"Hurry up. And put your shirt on," she adds quickly.

"Bonnie," he says impatiently.

"You're already going down there with a hard on," she says. Tyler's going to give them so much shit. "We don't have to _flaunt _it. Put on your shirt."

He does and she takes the opportunity to take off her own. She's unhooking her bra when he comes back in.

"We're never going to hear the end of it," he says, "but I got it."

She throws her bra on the floor. "Then get over here."

"Give me a minute." He's already pulled off his shirt again but he's working on his belt.

Bonnie falls back onto her pillows. "You're taking forever," she says to her ceiling. As soon as the words leave her mouth, the edge of her bed dips with Jeremy's weight as he moves to lay at her side.

He leans over her and drops a kiss onto her shoulder. Even _that_ leaves her humming. She's so glad they're doing this. "Impatient much?"

She turns her head to look at him. "Very much."

When he kisses her, she wraps her arms around his neck. She feels like she can breathe him, inhale every part of him and she wants to. She really, really wants to. It's like that night in the witches' house except not completely. Now they're older. When Jeremy kisses her, it's still fantastic and when he touches her she gasps. When he's inside her, her hips rise to meet his in a rhythm they've carved out for themselves. But they've changed. Back then they were both able to say they'd never killed anyone. Then they were innocent, or as innocent as one could be in this town.

That was forever ago.

Jeremy says her name and it reminds her of a spell, one of the quiet ones she used to do that float feathers around bedrooms. He says her name like it's magic, like he's making things happen with it. And he is because all it takes is her name, falling from his lips like some kind of prayer and she comes undone. Following behind her, Jeremy groans into her neck. It's her name again. She smiles and is still smiling when he puts his mouth on hers and takes her breath away.

She can both see his grin and hear it in his voice. "That was...good," he says as he rolls off of her to dispose of the condom. He's back in bed in a matter of seconds.

Bonnie smiles. She still feels like a live wire and she turns on her side to look at him, propping her head up on her hand. "Great," she corrects.

Jeremy mirrors her. The sheet covers his lower half now but she reaches out to put her arm around his waist. For a second she thinks he's going to pull away but he shifts so he can move closer to her, putting his arm around her. His smile falters a little.

"Are we back together or...?"

She shifts slightly. It takes her a long time to answer. Or maybe it just feels like a long time to her because he's looking at her so openly, so plainly. She both loves and hates the way he looks at her. "No," she says finally.

She can practically feel him deflate. A contradiction tugs at her lips. It'd be more than easy to change her mind. They could at least try. Maybe they will. But she can't wrap her mind around it right now. She's got to go back to the boarding house to give Stefan counterfeit herbs. She's been gone too long already so she'll have to make up an excuse. There are a million more things to do and finding a way to kill Klaus and get Tyler out of her house and his mom back in town. She's tired just thinking about it and she thinks of Jeremy's wonderful mouth, masterful fingers and perfect everything else.

It creates the illusion of calm.

"Okay," Jeremy says, sounding so aloof she knows it's not real. He gets out of bed to pull his clothes back on. He's turning his shirt back on the right side when she speaks.

"Why'd you have to ruin it? We were good together, I thought."

"We were," he says, pulling the shirt on over his head. "We still are. I was just stupid." He sits back down next to her and he touches her shoulder with the tip of his finger and drags it down to where the sheet falls right over her chest. It's his right hand, his staking hand. The hand that killed Damon Salvatore. God, she loves that hand. Especially when he's using it on her. "Do I get to keep trying to make it up to you?"

He's smiling that smile again.

_Your face makes me weak, Jeremy Gilbert_, she thinks.

She's smiling, too when she says, "If you want."

"Like I said, however you'll have me." That dumb smile gets bigger and he leans in to kiss her. It's another make-her-forget-her-name-his-name-and-the-name-of-anyone-she's-ever-known kiss. One of his hands touches her face. When he pulls back, he's still smiling and he says, "So yeah. I want."

Welcome to Mystic Falls, do what you want.

* * *

When Jeremy goes back downstairs to get his stuff for a shower, Tyler's sitting on the couch with a can of soda, watching one of those daytime soaps. He's seems unusually into it. He hasn't moved since Jeremy came down before to find a condom when he'd started laughing and congratulated him and told him to pass it on to Bonnie (which Jeremy answered with his middle finger). He looks at Jeremy when he starts digging through his bag. "So, you back together?"

"Uh...no."

Bonnie's words still bounce around in his head along with scatterings of her saying his name whenever he touched her just where he was supposed to. Those are drowned out by her others.

_Do you know how humiliating that was?_

He does now.

_ I loved you._

But not anymore.

Tyler looks confused and turns off the TV. "No?"

"No."

"Oh." How awkward. "Are you okay with that?"

Jeremy glances back up the stairs. Bonnie's busy making fake witchy herb bags for Stefan so she's not coming down anytime soon. "I really fucked up with her. With the Anna thing."

"Oh," Tyler repeats, also looking toward the stairs. "The ghost girl. So it was just sex?"

Jeremy nods. "I think so. For now, I guess."

"And you're cool with that?"

He nods again.

Tyler's unconcerned and turns the TV back on. "Cool."

_However she'll have me._

"You know I'm gonna ask, right?" he says.

Jeremy shakes his head slightly but he's smiling. "You know I'm not gonna answer, right?"

Tyler nods his head. "Yeah, I know."

* * *

**So you know for sure , in this fic at least, Bonnie and Jeremy totally had sex pre-breakup. Maybe it seems like we're getting further away from Tonnie but we're not, I assure you. And I value and appreciate your patience. Also, your reviews. Thanks for reading.**


	27. Making It Worse

**Coinciding with the announcement of the Original spinoff, I have for you some Klaus/Bonnie interaction. At least one of you was interested in seeing more of Bonnie with him. We also get to Bonnie's chat with Shane regarding his relationship with Stefan and the cure. I've decided that I don't care about this Silas business and I think it's dumb (feel free to ask me why via PM). Shane is still sketchy but Silas is like...not even gonna be a thing here. **

**Happy reading. Thanks for reviewing!**

* * *

Making It Worse

Tyler's still not sure how they ended up at Klaus' mansion instead of in Bonnie's living room discussing Stefan and Shane which was where he'd rather be and what they spent most of last night and most of the morning doing. But when Caroline returned earlier she said Klaus would only talk to Tyler. And Bonnie, his savior. It's a cloudy day and it's already getting dark by the time they get up the nerve to go see what he wants.

"I'm glad you two were able to stop by," Klaus says.

They haven't moved past the foyer and neither of them has any intention of doing so.

"You wanted to talk," Tyler says, "so talk."

"Caroline came to visit me today. She's quite worried about your safety."

"Well, she's got reason to be," Bonnie says.

"Hardly." Klaus' hard stare floats to Tyler. "My very first and very last hybrid is in no danger from me."

Just being there makes him want to throw up or at least kill Klaus. He'd fail if he tried and Bonnie would surely be mad at him for jumping the gun. Still, a guy can dream. The only thing keeping him rooted to that spot, with the same fuming look on his face, is the knowledge that someday soon Klaus will be just as dead as all the hybrids he killed.

_Graduation_.

It's unrealistic. Tyler will never stop reminding himself how unrealistic it is but it's the only end date they've given themselves and he needs it.

"Until you decide to throw another temper tantrum," Bonnie snaps.

Klaus looks away from Tyler finally and his gaze settles on Bonnie. He smiles. "Then hopefully you'll be around to put his heart back in his chest. Strange thing that. I didn't realize you two were so close."

"Don't forget I saved your life once, too," Bonnie says, "and I don't even like you."

Welcome to Mystic Falls where saving your enemies can become just as important as saving your friends.

"Please accept my humble thanks."

"Keep it."

Klaus makes a movement toward them and Bonnie wraps a hand around Tyler's wrist to keep him at her side, not that her hand would do much good if Klaus decided to attack.

The Original notices and he smirks. "Protective aren't you?"

"I have this weird thing about not wanting people I care about to be hurt," Bonnie says.

"That is _weird_," Klaus says. "Either way, you're welcome to return home now, Tyler. I think you've learned your lesson. I noticed your mother is no longer in town. How is she doing these days?"

Tyler shifts and adjusts his hand so he's holding Bonnie's, her fingers warm. "Come on," he says. "We're done here."

Klaus puts on a disappointed face. "Are you sure you don't want to stay for dinner? There are some lovely young ladies coming over."

Bonnie pulls the door open but Klaus is at in a second, pushing it closed. It's only just slammed when Klaus flies across the room to crash into the wall. Bonnie's hold on Tyler has tightened.

"I'll forgive you that, witch," he says as he stands, dusting invisible dirt from his suit. "My mistake for startling you."

"We're leaving," Bonnie says, going for the door again.

"Now, now." Klaus adjusts his jacket as he approaches them again. "I meant it when I thanked you for your assistance. It was a pleasure working with you and I look forward to doing it again." He places a hand on the door and Tyler knows they won't be opening it until he wants them to.

"Don't hold your breath."

"Why must you be so _rude_? I can be perfectly amiable. I'm a friendly guy. Ask anyone. To be specific, ask Atticus Shane."

Klaus smiles and seems genuinely gleeful but Tyler can see Bonnie tense.

"Like I said, I look forward to working with you again." When he removes his hand, Bonnie pulls open the door and drags Tyler out behind her. She doesn't say a word as they get into the car.

Tyler doesn't know which of them is angrier. Bonnie grips the steering wheel and glares out the windshield. Maybe she is.

"Bonnie."

She seems awakened by his voice and she slips the key into the ignition. "I have to go see Shane. " Klaus has freaked her out. "You wanna come?"

* * *

Bonnie leads him on the path to Shane's office. The door's open and he's sitting inside, mulling over books that look as old as Bonnie's grimoires. He's working late and according to Bonnie, this isn't unusual. He wonders how often she's met him after everyone else is long gone.

"Bonnie," he says. He's happy to see her. "How are you doing?"

"I have to talk to you." She's no nonsense and focused with no time for pleasantries.

Tyler closes the door and stands there like some kind of bodyguard. He supposes there are worse things to be.

"Okay," Shane says slowly. "Something wrong?"

"You've been talking to people," she says, dropping her bag in one of the chairs in front of his desk. "A hybrid named Klaus and a vampire named Stefan. Right?"

"Right," he says. "How did you know about that?"

"I know them."

"You do?"

"Unfortunately," Tyler sighs.

Shane's not paying any attention to him. He's only got eyes for Bonnie and in light of recent information, Tyler doesn't like that.

"What did you talk about?"

"A cure for vampirism," Shane answers.

"What did you tell them?"

"A lot of it they already knew," he says. "If they can read a hunter's mark they'll get their cure. But it requires a very specific kind of witch."

"A Bennett witch?"

Shane nods. "I didn't mention that to them though. I didn't want you involved."

"I'm already involved," she says. She won't sit down. Instead, she paces. "Why do they need a Bennett witch?"

"The hunter's mark is a spell," Shane explains. "A Bennett witch created the hunters and the cure. Only a Bennett witch can read it."

_And they've got one_, Tyler thinks, _on retainer_. That was what Klaus meant by working with her again.

"Anything else?" She asks and Tyler can see her impatience in her steps, her arms folded tightly across her chest.

"No," Shane says. "They might come back."

"If they do, tell me," Bonnie says. She grabs her bag and puts it on her shoulder. "I'll see you."

"Bonnie," Shane says, looking almost offended she's leaving so soon.

"I'll see you," she repeats. She looks at Tyler. "Let's go."

Tyler follows her out.

"Now what?" he asks.

"We threw them off track," Bonnie says, "with Damon. But if they're talking to Shane now, it's getting urgent. They'll start using Jeremy. Or trying to." She takes her phone from her bag and starts texting but stops short.

"What's wrong?"

"Jeremy called a few times," she says. "_Shit_."

"What?"

She shows him the screen.

_Stefan's here. He wants to go hunting. _

* * *

Jeremy doesn't know how Bonnie does it. Stefan's usual brooding coupled with his newfound instability makes for poor company. They're outside town. They drove straight through the one Bonnie and Tyler frequent, to the next one, Comedy. The last time Jeremy was here, it was to drive Mrs. Lockwood to the bus station. Stefan told him to wait in the alley behind a rundown bar while he went inside. He goes back in between vampires and always comes out with another one, who never looks willing. In fact, Stefan has to force them outside and if they try to run, Stefan stops them and sends them back to Jeremy.

Something's happening here but Jeremy doesn't know what. Still, he's been dying to blow off some steam and his hunter's mark expands with every kill.

There have been three vampires so far. Jeremy handles them well enough. When they get too close, Stefan steps in but he falls back to the sidelines fast enough. The actual killing rests on Jeremy.

"Who are they?" Jeremy asks after the third has shriveled up and turned gray.

Stefan doesn't answer.

"I'm not doing anymore," he says. Bonnie worked her magic but he was only conditioned to ignore the urge to kill Elena. Stefan didn't listen when Jeremy first refused to come with him. He was sure Jeremy would be able to handle himself. Or maybe he thought Jeremy would be satisfied with the vampires Stefan had ready for him. He was wrong.

"One more," Stefan says.

"Unless you want that one more to be you," Jeremy says, "I'm not doing anymore."

Stefan backs off and Jeremy checks his phone. There are missed calls and texts from Bonnie and Tyler both. And a few from Elena.

_Call me_, from Bonnie.

_Call Bonnie, _from Tyler.

_Where are you? _from Elena.

It doesn't feel right getting a text from Elena, when she's so readily put a Salvatore before him in the past. He deletes it.

"Go back to the car then," Stefan says, before Jeremy can tell him Elena's freaking out. "I'll be back."

Another from Bonnie. _I'm tracking you._ He doesn't know how she'll manage to do that without his blood but then he remembers Elena's with her. He dials Bonnie.

"Finally," she says. If he didn't know they'd had sex yesterday, he wouldn't be able to tell from the way she acts toward him. Nothing's changed and now, with her voice a mix between annoyed and relieved, he can't help but smile.

"I'm fine," he says. "Killed three vampires. Proud?"

"Very. We're in town," Bonnie says. "Comedy?" _God, that's a bad name. _ "Where are you?"

"Some bar," Jeremy answers. "It's called Nex."

"Where's Stefan?"

"He's inside."

"We'll be there soon," Bonnie says.

"See you when get here."

At least he won't have to ride back with Stefan.

Jeremy pulls his jacket back on and slips the stake into his back pocket but he doesn't go to the car. Instead he goes through the back door of the bar. The air is heavy with smoke and alcohol. It's a full house but it's almost completely quiet. There's no fun being had here.

Stefan's at the bar with his hands wrapped around the throat of one of the patrons. He's heavyset and dark haired with a beard in need of a trim. If Jeremy hadn't seen the dark eyes and the veins, he wouldn't have known he was a vampire. He glances around the bar. Some people have turned to look at him. At least half the bar, while the other half is stuck on Stefan and his friend. They're all drinking blood. From bottles, glasses and blood bags. Blood everywhere. It's a bar full of vampires. And one hunter, one human.

He's still holding his phone and he presses buttons furiously. The text flies out into space just before a vampire slams into him.

* * *

"Turn right up here," Bonnie says. Tyler's driving and Bonnie's navigating while Elena sits in the backseat, continuing to call Stefan. She's left at least three messages demanding to know where him and Jeremy are. She gave up on Jeremy, thinking maybe he was just avoiding her calls or something. Despite the situation Bonnie thinks it's a good thing she's out of the house and out of Mystic Falls.

Bonnie's phone beeps. "From Jeremy."

_Help_.

"What's it say?" Elena asks. She hasn't said it out loud but Bonnie knows she's hurt Jeremy didn't text her.

"He's in trouble," Bonnie answers. "Go faster. It should be up here somewhere."

* * *

Stefan still hasn't turned around. He didn't turn when the first vampire flung himself at Jeremy, fangs bared. He didn't turn when Jeremy staked that vampire and his cry filled the whole room. He still didn't turn when Jeremy got thrown into a table by another one but he might have looked when Jeremy got his stake in that one's heart, too. He still doesn't turn when Jeremy calls his name while trying to hold off a vampire with a mane of blond hair. Somewhere along the way he lost his hold on his stake and he doesn't know where it's gone.

But Stefan definitely turns around when Elena's voice, raised high above the din, splits the air.

"Jeremy!"

She pulls the blond off him. Jeremy's not aware there's another vampire until there are fangs in his throat and he feels the warmth of his blood spilling down his chest.

There's cold, hard wood in his hand. A slim, magnificently carved stake. _His_ stake but he doesn't know where it came from.

But he knows what it's for.

The vampire holding him is smaller than him, on the skinny side and easy to shake off. He's even easier to flip, rotating through the air before landing on the floor with a crash. He turned young. His eyes are wide when Jeremy plunges the stake into his heart.

Then there's only screaming. Elena's screaming. The vampire behind him is screaming. Tyler, who Jeremy just noticed, across the room with his hand in the chest of a vampire on the floor, is screaming. Stefan is screaming.

Everyone is screaming.

_Bonnie._

She's at the door with that determined look on her face, sending out aneurysms that have crippled everyone in the bar.

When she releases them, Elena stumbles forward a bit. Jeremy lets her grip his arm.

"Leave," Bonnie says. "Or I will kill all of you. _Now!_"

The vampires who are still alive go for the side door instead of going past Bonnie, like they think she'll kill them for standing too close to her.

"Jeremy," Elena says before biting her wrist. "Here. You need it."

He grudgingly accepts, swallowing her blood down. "Are you okay otherwise?" she asks. When he nods, she exhales with relief. Then she turns to Stefan. "What the _hell_ is wrong with you? You brought him here for _what_?"

Stefan looks at her and then at the rest of them. He reaches behind him, for a glass of blood left on the bar and he drinks it down. "He has to grow his mark," he says finally.

"That's not the only reason you came here."

Bonnie comes toward Jeremy and touches his face, turning his head so she can look at his neck. "It's healing," he says. "I'm okay. Thanks for the stake."

She smiles. "You're welcome."

Tyler joins them but doesn't say anything. They're listening to Elena and Stefan.

Of all the things Jeremy thought he'd do in his life, being in a vampire bar fight with his sister, his ex-girlfriend, Tyler and Stefan, was not on the list. Even if they were all in it together before, now it's like the lines of been redrawn and now Jeremy's back with his real allies. And Elena and Stefan are arguing.

Some things never change.

"Someone here knew something," Stefan says, "and now we'll never know what." He moves toward the door but Elena drags him back.

"You almost got Jeremy killed!"

"If he'd gone back to the car when I told him to, this wouldn't have happened!"

"Yeah, this is definitely my fault," Jeremy says, holding the side of his neck that was ripped open.

"You're out of control," Elena says.

"You're the last person to talk to me about control. Damon's dead and he's still controlling you."

Elena grips his arm again and holds him in place. "He's controlling one of us but it's not me. You stay far away from my brother until you get yourself together." Then, quieter. "I lost him, too. Don't make it worse, Stefan."

He shrugs her off. "I'm not making it worse. I'm fixing it." When he goes out the door, Elena doesn't try to stop him.

* * *

Tyler drives them back to Mystic Falls. The whole way back, no one speaks. Out loud anyway.

_There was a witch in the bar_, Bonnie tells Tyler. He glances her way. _She did a glamour. A strong one. I couldn't see through it_.

He's dying to say something but with Elena in the backseat, they have to wait. The drive seems to take hours.

"Can you drop me off at my house?" Elena asks when they pass the Welcome to Mystic Falls sign.

"You're staying at home now?" Jeremy asks.

Elena nods. "Yeah. I'd like it if you did, too."

_Stay with her_, Bonnie tells him. _She needs someone_. _Just for tonight._ If Elena's on her way to getting better, they should make sure she stays way. If Jeremy's around maybe losing Stefan won't be so hard.

Jeremy sighs but says, "Yeah, okay." In front of the Gilbert house, Jeremy and Elena get out. Elena goes straight to the door but Jeremy lingers. "Text me later."

"We will," Bonnie promises.

Once they're both in the house, Bonnie turns to Tyler. "We have to go back."

"Back where?"

She knows he's tired because she is, too. It hasn't been their worst day but it's definitely up there on the list. All she wants to do it take a nap and if Jeremy wasn't going to be staying at home, she'd ask him to join her.

"To that bar."

"You think she's still there?"

"I know she is," Bonnie corrects him. "She's waiting for me."

"You sure we can trust her?" Tyler asks.

Bonnie nods her head. "She's family."

* * *

The bar is still empty when they return. No one's come back but Bonnie doubts its usual patrons will still away long. They'll all be back to drinking their preferred blood types by tomorrow, once they're sure Bonnie's not coming back.

"You should stock up on blood while we're here," Bonnie says as she leads Tyler through the door. They ignore the trashed floor, sticky with spilled blood and wasted alcohol.

"Now that you mention it," he says going behind the bar, "I'll do that." Then, "She's not here."

"She will be."

Bonnie sits at the bar and wipes away a few shards of broken glass. "Make me a drink?"

"I can pour you a drink that's already made," Tyler says as he fishes out some blood bags from underneath the bar. "By that I mean I can hand you a bottle. Or a can."

Bonnie laughs. "Anything fruity back there?"

"There's flavored beer. Raspberry."

She makes a face. "Nevermind."

"I'll take it."

The voice comes from the back door.

Tyler's primed to fight but Bonnie shakes her head slightly and doesn't even have to turn around to know who it is. It's been awhile but she's used to the feeling of being around family. And this particular feeling is more familiar than most. "Tyler this is my cousin Lucy."

* * *

**I'm sure you all remember Lucy! And say what you want about Stefan but he's good at multitasking, growing Jeremy's mark and looking for info on Damon. **

**Fun fact: _Nex_ means death (specifically murder) in Latin.**


	28. I Love Lucy

I Love Lucy

"So, this your boyfriend?" Lucy asks, perching on the barstool next to Bonnie and tossing her purse on the countertop. She hasn't changed a bit. The same long brown hair and coy smirk. She's not as unfamiliar to Bonnie as she was before at the masquerade ball. Maybe it's the magic but she feels like she knows her, like Grams is back there with her. Even like her mom is. It's good to see her. And to see her alive, well and wearing a pair of heels too tall to be comfortable.

"No," Bonnie answers. "This is Tyler. He's a friend."

"Oh," Lucy says, looking slightly disappointed. "You legal?"

"Lucy!" Bonnie exclaims, looking back and forth from her to Tyler who has the dumbest smile on his face. She'll give him shit for that later. Maybe Jeremy's not the only one with a thing for older women.

"I'm just kidding," Lucy says, holding up her hands. "You can keep him."

Bonnie rolls her eyes. "He's not-" She sighs. "Whatever."

"Anyway," Lucy says, "you look great."

"Thanks."

"Considering how busy you've been," Lucy adds, "that's a real feat. I mean, killing Damon Salvatore isn't an easy job."

Tyler's smiles fades and Bonnie's sure her amusement has followed it into the ether. "You know?" If Lucy knows other people may know. If other people know, Stefan could know.

"Don't worry," Lucy says. "I saw it in a dream. Good dream, by the way." She looks to Tyler. "Are you gonna give me that beer or what?"

"Oh." He hurries to pass it to her.

"Thank you, handsome," she says, twisting off the cap. "Nice aneurysm thing you pulled. You're good."

"Yeah," Bonnie says. She looks apologetically to Tyler. "Sorry about that. It's hard to separate the targets."

He waves it off. "Don't worry about it, Bennett. I forced myself to change a few hundred times, I can bounce back from a killer migraine."

"Werewolf?" Lucy says as she raises the bottle to her lips.

"Hybrid," he corrects.

"The last hybrid," Bonnie says.

He nods. "First _and_ last."

"I see you're both very proud of that," Lucy says. "Well, take what you can get. What happened to the others?"

"Klaus killed them."

"Killed me, too," Tyler adds, "but Bonnie put me back together."

Bonnie smiles as she looks over at him. There's something about how proud he sounds when he says that.

Lucy cocks her head to the side and stares at Bonnie with narrowed eyes. "Did she? You paid the toll?"

"A human sacrifice, yes," Bonnie says. That nameless man's face has all but disappeared from her memory. All she remembers now is Tyler coming to life under her hands and that's all that matters. "Have you ever-" _Sacrificed someone_.

"There isn't a Bennett witch who hasn't," Lucy says. "Don't worry, Bonnie. You're just doing the thing. You're not the first, won't be the last."

"You didn't...feel bad after?"

"If you know how to pick 'em, there's no reason to feel anything," Lucy says with a shrug of her shoulders. How many people has she picked? "Do you know how to pick 'em?"

Bonnie nods. "Yeah."

"Then there you go," she says with a smile.

Bonnie considers asking Lucy about the spirits, if she's ever dealt with them before, the way Bonnie had to but her question falls from her lips as Lucy speaks.

"Anyway, I'm sorry to say your boy Stefan was looking for me."

"Why?"

"I'm in town with one of my vampire friends," she says. "I've really gotta start hanging out with normal people, I know. I may have mentioned I knew a little something about what happened to Damon Salvatore."

Tyler and Bonnie sigh heavily in unison.

"I didn't say anything specific," Lucy says quickly, "but he told someone and they told someone and you know how the rumor mill works. You think you can trust someone. Sorry. I guess it reached Mystic Falls because Stefan came here to beat it out of everyone. And no one had anything to add so they all just kinda died. That other kid's real handy with a stake. Was he at that masquerade party, too? Looked familiar."

"Yeah, he's a hunter," Bonnie says. "All Bennett blessed and everything." Lucy shoots her a confused look. "He's one of the Five. Do you-"

"No kidding?" She's suddenly excited, sitting up straighter in her seat.

"You know about the Five?"

Lucy nods. "The Five were some of the family's best work."

Not that Bonnie would know. It'd be different if Grams were alive, if Abby hadn't left, if Lucy wasn't doing whatever it was she did. Maybe she wouldn't have to rely on Shane for information on her own family.

"I wish he'd come back with you. I've been _dying _to meet one of them. I thought I'd found one in Canada a few years back but no." Lucy kicks her gently with the toe of her boot. "You're running with an interesting crowd. One of the Five _and_ a hybrid. And both so cute."

Bonnie laughs this time. "Only Tyler's legal, Lucy."

"Is that code for the other one _is_ your boyfriend?"

"Ex-boyfriend," she corrects, knowing Tyler's staring at her pointedly. None of them has really discussed what happened between her and Jeremy yesterday but she supposes one of them will bring it up eventually. Jeremy, to proceed with his plans to repent for his cheating on her and Tyler just to tease her. "Anyway, what else happened in this dream of yours?"

"Well, I was going to find you eventually," Lucy says, "because I got a little hint you're gonna be looking for a cure for vampirism. And from what I've heard, that's gonna take some hardcore Bennett magic."

"Don't," Bonnie says. "Stay far away from town. I can handle that."

"I can help," Lucy says. "You think making a vampire human is gonna be easy? It's gonna be the hardest magic you've ever done."

"Leave your number and if it is, I'll let you know," she says. "But you don't need to come to Mystic Falls. Witches die there."

"Don't I know it," Lucy mumbles. Bonnie wonders if Lucy heard about Abby being turned. Did she ever know Abby? There are so many questions she has for Lucy and she doesn't even know how to ask them. "Going after Stefan, too?"

"Yeah. We're working on it. Him then Klaus."

"Wait," Lucy says, "you want to _kill_ Klaus?"

Bonnie nods. "That's why we need the cure. You didn't see that?"

"No," she says, shaking her head. "I figured you'd want it because your doppelganger friend got turned."

"You heard?"

"Another doppelganger vampire running around? Who _didn't_ hear about that?"

"Lots of people, I'm sure," Tyler says. "At least no one's heard about the first."

"What about her?" Lucy asks curiously.

"She's dead."

Lucy's eyes go wide. "Did you-"

"Yeah."

"I've gotta get my dreams on a better channel," she says, "because I'm missing all the good stuff. It has been very Katherine-lite of late. Haven't heard a thing about her. I'm impressed, little cousin." She takes a long drink of her beer. "She loved her Salvatores."

"For reasons that have yet to be seen," Tyler says as he rips open a blood bag and starts to drink.

"I love his snark," Lucy sighs. "Are you sure you don't want to date him?"

Bonnie refuses to look at Tyler but she can see him grinning out of the corner of her eye. "He can _hear_ you."

Lucy shrugs. "Well, you got one brother. Plus Katherine. Not bad. Though from what I've heard the Ripper isn't a slouch himself. He knew exactly what he was doing tonight. Wasn't a vampire in this place who wanted to go up against a grieving Ripper with an Original on his side. If anyone knew anything they would have talked. They were already scared out of their minds before he started passing them to the hunter."

"Any suggestions?" Bonnie asks.

"I'm not in the business of killing Salvatore brothers," Lucy says, "but if I think of something I'll let you know. So, what else has been going on with you? How's...school?" She looks uncomfortable talking about it, like she's not sure what else to say but Bonnie goes with it anyway.

"It's okay," she says. "We go back in a few days."

"And you're a...senior?"

Bonnie nods.

"So you're graduating."

She nods again wondering if Lucy would come if she invited her. But she can practically see her dad's face and the way it'll drop as soon as she introduces Lucy as a Bennett and it's hard to picture Lucy there anyway. She probably wouldn't want to come anyway.

"What are you doing after?" Lucy asks. "College?"

"That's the plan," Bonnie says. "Probably Whitmore where my Grams used to teach."

"Yeah, I knew she was a professor," Lucy says. "That's great. You don't want to go a little further from home?"

"I do," Bonnie says. Mystic Falls is death and her dad's not there much and her Grams is gone. Why not leave, if she can? But she knows the reasons. She can't just leave if all the danger still remains, if Klaus is still there. "I've applied to a few other places. We'll see."

"There's nothing wrong with wanting to leave," Lucy says. "Hell, I never stay too long in one spot."

"You told me I was one of the good ones," Bonnie reminds her, "and that I _should_ be here, in the middle."

"That was then. But you're graduating," Lucy says, "you can do other things. Go to school, go to parties, have sex with frat boys."

"I do all that now."

Lucy swings her head in Tyler's direction and he throws up his hands. "It's true. She's wild."

She laughs. "My point is, everything doesn't have to be a spell. You can go to school and be normal for awhile. Once you scratch off the last person on your list, why not?"

"It's still a long way away."

Lucy lets it pass.

"You been writing any of your own spells?

"Yeah," she answers thinking of her grimoire back at home, sitting right on top of the piles of others. Its pages are already heavy with ink and magic and spells in her own hand.

"Are you trying any of them?"

"Not too often," she says. "I practice other ones mostly, ones other witches wrote. I've just been busy."

"Right," Lucy says, "you've got a hit list to deal with." She glances down at the face of her watch and clucks her tongue. "I have to go."

"So soon?"

"Unfortunately." She reaches for a napkin and pulls a pen from her purse. "My number. When you're ready to cure Klaus, you give me a call." She presses it into Bonnie's palm.

"There was something I wanted to ask you," she says quickly.

Lucy pauses. "Shoot."

"It's about the spirits. They kind of...I saw them torturing my Grams," she says. "It was a punishment for dark magic."

"A punishment..." Lucy looks thoughtful. "What kind of spell were you doing?"

She quickly explains the circumstances and Lucy hums.

"They wanted you to keep Klaus in his body," she gestures to Tyler. "Keep him weak."

"Yeah. Have they ever been like that with you?"

"Well, my magic, while it's beneficiaries have been mingled and varied," Lucy says, "doesn't really tap into the grand scheme of things I suppose. You were messing with Klaus. They _hate_ Klaus. I can't think of many people who _like_ the guy."

"They gave me the power to kill him."

"And kill yourself, most likely," Lucy says. "Am I right?"

Bonnie nods. And she'd been more than willing. If that's the case this time, she doesn't know if she'll be so ready.

"Work around them," she says. "You've been doing it so far. Expression's a pretty specific method of doing that but-"

"Expression?"

"The magic that requires a human sacrifice," Lucy clarifies.

"Oh. I've been calling it 'magic that requires a human sacrifice'."

Lucy smiles at her and Bonnie realizes how young she is in comparison to her. She doesn't even know how old Lucy is, how long she's been doing this, who taught her, where she learned. She doesn't even know the place Lucy calls home, if Lucy calls anyplace a home or if everywhere is just another stop on the way to somewhere else. "Don't make a habit of it though," she says warningly. "And remember what I said about picking them. It helps. With the conscience thing at least."

"What happens if I make a habit of it?"

"I've heard some horror stories," Lucy says, "but I'm not worried. It's the witch that counts and how she chooses to use her power. Just...be responsible with it and in the meantime work on ways to get strong without the spirits. You're young, Bonnie. Give it a few years and you won't need to think about them ever again. I don't. If you ask me, they're just being assholes to you because you're young and new and that shit town is a hotspot for all things terrible and bloodthirsty. She glances at Tyler and grins. "No offense, sweetheart."

"None taken," he says. That stupid smile will never leave his face.

"They're just trying to keep things balanced," Lucy adds, "and you are their only window into that town. I'm sure Sheila's fine, wherever she is. She was quite the badass herself. I don't think they'll give you much trouble now anyway. You're killing the Original hybrid. They can't complain about that."

"You think so?"

"I hope. But they're fickle bitches."

She looks down at her hands as Lucy puts her bag on her shoulder. "Call me," she says, "even if you don't think you'll need help." She turns to the door but stops short, like she has something more to say. Finally, she turns back around. "I ran into your mom a couple weeks ago."

"You did? Where?"

"Chicago."

"How was she?" She's not sure she really wants to know but it seems like the kind of thing she's supposed to ask.

"She had herself under control," Lucy says. "I told her she should see you or something but you know..."

Bonnie nods in understanding. "Yeah, I know."

"I'll see you, Bonnie," Lucy says. "It was nice meeting you, Tyler. Happy killing, kids."

With that she's gone and Bonnie stares at the barstool Lucy occupied a moment ago.

* * *

On the way home Bonnie's quiet, fiddling with the number Lucy gave her and looking out the window. For awhile they talked about her. Tyler said she was funny and Bonnie told him she agreed, that she wished she knew her better. It was only their second time meeting each other after all. That had surprised him. Back at the bar they'd seemed to run together in a circle Tyler couldn't see and had no part of it. They'd seemed like family. Maybe it was a witch thing.

"What's wrong?" he asks as they enter into town. She's so quiet. For awhile they joked around about him and his stupid smile whenever Lucy told him he was cute but that ended quickly. Now Bonnie's more interested in the passing road signs. Tyler purposely avoids looking at the welcome sign for Mystic Falls.

Welcome to Mystic Falls. Body count: Limitless.

"Everyone keeps saying Bennett witches are powerful," she says, her face still turned toward the window. He can only see a slight reflection of her face in it but he has to look back to the road before he can try to figure out what she's feeling.

"Yeah," he says. "Aren't they? Aren't _you_?"

"I guess."

Does she not see it? What he sees, what he knows Jeremy sees. She's overflowing with power, power to give life and take it away, to send a bar full of vampires running, to save his life. He doesn't know much about it, about her magic but he's learning. And if there's one thing he knows, it's that Bonnie is magic and magic is her. And he doesn't know the logistics but it suits her.

"What's this about?"

"I don't have anyone," she says, "to teach me."

"What about Shane?"

"He's not a witch."

"Lucy-"

"I can't ask her."

"Why not? She _offered_."

"She offered to help me do the cure spell or whatever," Bonnie says, "but I can't accept that."

Tyler squints at her. "Why not?"

"Because witches die here! I brought my mom here and look what happened to her. I made my Grams help with that stupid tomb spell and she died. I barely know Lucy and I can't ask her to come here and die to help us. I have to do it myself."

Tyler's starting to think there are a lot of things Bonnie thinks she has to do by herself.

"Well," he says, "you've been doing some really impressive magic lately."

"I haven't been making any vampires human," she sighs. "I couldn't stop Elena's transition."

He inhales and turns off the radio. It's Top 40 hits and the electric beat seems out of place with their current conversation. "That was months ago. And I don't know that much about magic or witches but you're good, Bonnie. You're _so_ good."

"But you think that because you don't know anything about it," she says. "I don't know anything about it really. I know what I've been told and what I've seen but I don't think that's enough anymore." She sighs and pushes her hair behind her ears. She doesn't really know what to do with him because she starts moving them around, cracking her knuckles, resting them on her lap. Finally, she adds, "It just hit me back there that there's no one I can ask. My Grams is dead, my mom's in Chicago or somewhere and Lucy is traveling, I guess."

"You could call her," he says gently, knowing what her response will be. Bonnie's stubborn and now she's dug in her heels. It'll take a force of nature, Bonnie herself, to change her mind.

"But I don't want her to come here," Bonnie says. "It's better if she stays away especially since Klaus is here. I just have to study."

"Study?"

"Yeah," she says. "I can call Shane. He's already on Klaus' radar and he's been working this long."

"You trust him?"

Bonnie shrugs her shoulders. "I guess. Not like you or Jeremy but yeah. He's helped me so far."

"Me and Jeremy rank higher than the Fratty Professor?" He assumes she's over her little crush on him now that her and Jeremy are doing whatever it is they're doing.

"I guess you do," she says and he can make out her smile just slightly in the car's dark interior. Tyler thinks he could offer to help her with her magic, be a test dummy or something but that's probably not what she needs. But he wants to help her somehow because she's helped him more than she knows, more than he can say, and if she needs help with her magic, he can offer his services in that department.

They get back to Bonnie's house and it's weird to know Jeremy's not inside waiting for them. The lights are off with the exception of the one on the porch. He pulls into the driveway but doesn't get out. Bonnie does and when she notices he's not following her, she turns back around. "Are you going somewhere else tonight?"

"I thought I'd head home," he says.

"Oh."

She sounds disappointed and he tries not to smile at the thought of her missing having him in the house.

"Are you sure?" she asks.

"Yeah, I mean Klaus says he's not trying to kill me anymore." Klaus is complicated and an easy liar but Tyler believes him. For the moment, he's safe. "And you and Jeremy are doing your thing so I don't want to-"

Bonnie cuts him off. "But Jeremy's not even gonna be here tonight. Do you not like it here?"

"No, I do," he says quickly. "I just don't want to wear out my welcome."

"But you're not," she insists as she gets back in the car, closing the door behind her. "And like I said, you're not in the way of me and Jeremy and our...thing."

That's what they're calling it. A thing. They're not a couple but they're not so disengaged they can call it just sex. Jeremy's always staring at her like she's something precious and she's gentle and protective of him whenever the situation calls for it and even when it doesn't. They're _something_ but neither of them has a name for it. Except _thing_.

"Not yet." But he can imagine the day they're trying to get hot and heavy on the kitchen table or some other common surface and he'll interrupt and it'll be awkward and they'll both wonder why he's still there. Then they'll have to have a conversation about Tyler leaving. Or their thing will become a big thing and he'll end up living with a married couple who tries to set him up with their friends so he'll be happy like they are.

"Tyler, come in," she says. "Please. I'd feel better if you were here. I don't trust Klaus."

"I know," he says. "But I think he was telling the truth today. And I'm eating all your food."

"We can buy more food," Bonnie says with a laugh. "Do you really want to go home? If you do, I'll shut up right now but if you don't, you can stay. I don't mind you staying." She looks serious now, maybe a little sad. "It's nice having people in the house. There's never anyone here usually."

Tyler wonders exactly how long it's been since Bonnie's shared a house with her dad, _really_ shared a house with now there's no one in Tyler's house either. And that's never been the case before. The last time he stayed there it was overflowing with hybrids. Bonnie's set up is smaller but he's still sharing it with friends.

"I like staying here," he admits.

She smiles. She's got a good smile. "Then stay."

"Are you _sure_?"

"Yes," she says.

"You can't call me a cockblocker if I need to use the bathroom while you and Jeremy are going at it in the shower," he says.

Bonnie laughs and pushes open the door. "Fine."

Tyler follows her to the front door and into the house where she turns on the lights without going to the switch. They stand in the doorway and look at the empty living room. "I"ll make dinner," she calls as she goes into the kitchen.

She'll microwave something.

Home sweet home.

* * *

**The time spent with Lucy went longer than originally planned (and I do really, really love Lucy) so Jeremy regretfully doesn't get his POV in this one but he will return in the next update. Next time you'll see some roommate shenanigans and the start of second semester at Mystic Falls High. **

**In regards to Bonnie and her magic, I've always felt the show is crap with explaining it and maybe that's because there's no one there to explain it (also the show's fault). And she is fairly new to the whole thing and all her information comes secondhand and not always from good sources so she's gotta learn a lot of it on her own. And from an analytical standpoint, that might be why she's so partial to Shane who's able to give her all this information she didn't have access to before.**

**Anyway, thanks for reading and reviewing!**


	29. Back to School

Back to School

Dinner ends up being ice cream. Bonnie and Tyler recline on opposite ends of the couch, their feet meeting in the middle while they watch reality television and eat from individual tubs of ice cream. Tyler would have preferred the cookie dough but she got to it first, courtesy of some magic on her part, so he got stuck with vanilla, which he liked but it wasn't cookie dough.

"Can I have a bite?"

Bonnie narrows her eyes but hands over the tub. "One bite."

"One bite," he agrees.

He doesn't look at her as he gets as much of the ice cream onto his spoon as he can, forming a small mound. He's putting it in his mouth when she kicks him and he starts to laugh but catches it all on his tongue before it can fall onto his shirt.

"That's really good," he says as Bonnie takes the tub and spoon away from him. "Thank you."

"I hate you," she mutters, spooning more into her mouth. "I'll never share ice cream with you again."

"You can have some of my vanilla," he says.

He grins when she takes it and repeats his process. "Thanks," she says.

"You're welcome. You think Jeremy killed Elena?"

She shakes her head. "We would've heard about it by now. But I'll text him."

It's late but Jeremy must not have been sleeping because he responds within seconds, Bonnie's phone chirping at her side. "He says she's still alive." She drops her phone into her lap and turns back to her ice cream.

"How gross is it to drink alcohol while eating ice cream?"

Bonnie shrugs. "I don't know. Pretty gross, I guess. Why?"

"I want to drink."

She shrugs. "You know where I keep it."

He does. Both spots. Under the kitchen counter for when her dad's _not _home only to be moved upstairs into her bedroom closet if he's coming back. He returns to the couch with two glasses, a bottle of vodka mostly full and a bottle of soda. They'd finished off her last one after Damon died and started the second one but there's still most of the bottle left.

He mixes and she watches over his shoulder. When he's done, he passes her the glass.

Gross opinion aside, she drinks and he follows her lead.

"Ew," she says.

"It might not have been so bad if we didn't eat the cookie dough," he says.

For future reference, he files away mixed drinks and cookie dough ice cream don't mix. Still, neither of them is opposed to continuing. The ice cream starts to melt but neither of them does anything about it. Bonnie gets comfortable on the couch and Tyler joins her, moving only to refill their glasses. When she's ready she holds out her glass and he takes it, like any regular old bartender. He should demand a tip.

"So," Tyler says once his mind is delightfully foggy and he's feeling the familiar buzz, "I have a question."

"Yes."

"What?"

"Yes," Bonnie repeats. "Your question. Isn't it the same question you've been asking?"

"Well, it was," he admits, "but are you saying yes, you and Jeremy had sex prior to yesterday's sex _or_ are you saying yes, yesterday was the first time you had sex?"

Bonnie blinks. "I think...the first one. We'd had sex before yesterday."

She smiles as he throws back his head and laughs. He can't remember _when_ he became so invested in finding this out but he'll remember when he found out. "i'm so glad you finally came clean! Don't you feel better?"

Bonnie finishes off her drink. She's a better drinker than he remembers her being, throwing them back like water. He remembers what Lucy said about her going to school and parties and sleeping with frat boys. Bonnie would be popular at a frat party, if she ever decided to go but somehow he can't picture her there. He never saw her at many parties without Caroline and Elena at her side and she was never very drunk. If she did end up going to Whitmore, maybe she could ask the Fratty Professor to go with her.

He's annoyed by the very thought.

"I feel the same," she says.

"Well, I feel better," he says. "So, do I get details or..."

"Now you want details?" Bonnie says with a lilt in her voice. She's making fun of him. "Soon you're gonna ask to watch."

"I promise you I won't ask to watch," he says as he lifts the vodka bottle from the floor to pour some more. He raises his glass to his lips.

"No you'll probably ask to participate."

He chokes on the liquor as it goes down. It sends Bonnie into a fit of giggles and she hides her face in the crook of her arm as she laughs. He watches her with her gently shaking shoulders and secret smile. When she raises her head, for one minute, she's not Bonnie, Caroline's friend or Bonnie, Jeremy's ex-girlfriend or even Bonnie, the Bennett witch. She's Bonnie, who brought him here and is letting him live with her she's a girl and she's pretty. Beautiful even with those eyes, the color of spring leaves and the earth she wields as her weapon. And she's got that smile.

"Your mind's too dirty for me, Bonnie Bennett," he says as her laughter fades away into an amused sigh and she pushes her curls away from her face. "And I don't think Jeremy would go for it."

She shrugs. "The first time was also the last time and it was in an abandoned house populated with the spirits of a bunch of dead witches after the decade dance. I think it was the 60s."

"Romantic," Tyler deadpans. "Only once?"

"Well, after that we got caught up in the whole sacrifice thing and then I left for awhile and then he cheated on me so."

"Right," Tyler says nodding his head. "Ghost girl."

"Yeah." She sighs heavily. "We have to figure out how to kill Stefan. We still haven't and it's getting messy."

Stefan, losing control, seeking out information on Damon and getting close. If it hadn't been a Bennett witch, if it hadn't been Lucy, he might have found out something. And there's no telling where he is now or what he's doing. He may not know anything about their plans but he knows he's at risk and he's lashing out. Eventually he'll hurt one of them, even if he doesn't know they're his targets.

"I know," Tyler says. "We will. But for now, we drink."

* * *

In the morning Elena's made breakfast. Jeremy could smell it from upstairs but that didn't keep him from showering and getting dressed. He's not staying. It was only for the night. She tries not to look too disappointed when he comes down. To make up for it and thank her for yesterday, he eats with her.

"Are you sure you don't want to come back?" she asks. "You can."

Jeremy drops his gaze to the ring on her finger. It was Damon's. He doesn't know how she got it out of the tomb since the spell hasn't been lifted but he didn't notice it before. A part of him can't blame her for wearing it. She thought she was in love with him, after all. But it still pisses him off.

"Yeah, I'm sure," he says. "Me and Bonnie are...We're figuring things out so."

Elena's eyes grow wide. Maybe she's surprised Bonnie didn't tell her. "That's great, Jer."

She might think it's a dumb reason to stay but it sounds better than Jeremy telling her he doesn't want to live with her, that coming back will make it harder to plan Stefan's demise.

"If Stefan bothers you again," she says, "let me know. I'll take care of it."

"Okay." Elena's plans to make Stefan go away probably aren't as permanent as Jeremy's.

"I know we've all been acting differently," she says, "not like ourselves, but I'm trying and I know you are. It's been hard with Damon gone. I don't know if I want to avenge him or just...move on. But I do want to protect us. Especially you."

"I don't need protection, Elena." She's always been that way, thinking he needs someone watching his back all the time. Maybe he did at one point but he doesn't need that now. His Hunter's mark has inched further up his arm in wake of yesterday's staking spree and he moves more certainly with a stake everyday.

"That doesn't mean I stop wanting to protect you," she points out. "I don't know if I'm still sired but I know that, like usual, there's something happening here and I know we're in danger. I don't want us to be on opposite sides."

"We're not," he lies.

"I want us to be a family. I want us to be brother and sister again."

She makes it sound so easy, like all it'll take is some reevaluation and a few conversations over breakfast she's prepared. It won't be that simple. He tells her so, knowing his covert activities aren't exactly going toward _helping. _Who's the bigger hypocrite at this table? Is it him or is it her?

Or maybe they're equal. They are related after all.

"You've always picked them," he says, "over everyone. And this was before the sire bond. I know you're trying but it's gonna take awhile. Sorry." He thinks she can tell he's not that sorry.

Someone knocks on the door and she rises to answer it. He has his suspicions about who it is and sure enough Elena says, "What are you doing here?"

And Stefan responds, "I have to talk to you."

Jeremy gets up from the table and drops his plate in the sink.

"You should go," Elena says. "I'm with Jeremy."

"No, it's fine. I'm just leaving," he says.

"Wait," she says, reaching for his arm. "Stay. Stefan can come back another time. We're not done talking."

"We are for now," he says. "It's fine. I'll see you."

"Jer," Elena says."Let me drive you at least."

"I'll walk," he says.

"See you at school tomorrow?" she asks as he brushes past Stefan without looking at him.

Jeremy nods. The only way she won't is if she doesn't go and that's more likely than him not going. There was a time when that was the other way around.

It's not far back to Bonnie's house and it's not too cold today either. He has to knock and it's Tyler that answers.

"You're back. How was it?"

"Not bad," Jeremy answers, scanning the living room for any sign of Bonnie but he doesn't see her. "But Stefan showed up this morning so I left." There's a mess of tubs of ice cream and an empty soda bottle and vodka on the living room table.

"Good call," Tyler comments.

"Have a party while I was gone?"

"A real rager. Bonnie's upstairs if you're looking for her."

"I wasn't looking for her," he lies.

Tyler laughs. "Okay, Gilbert."

"I'll just let her know I'm back."

"You do that," Tyler says. "And keep it down."

Jeremy ignores him as he goes up the stairs. Bonnie's bedroom door is open and she's sitting on her bed surrounded by grimoires, all open to various weathered pages.

"What are you doing?" he asks.

Her smile when he speaks is so perfect it almost breaks his heart to see it. "I thought I heard someone come in," she says. "How was it with Elena?"

"It was okay," he says. "Then Stefan showed."

"Fucking Salvatores."

Bonnie's never dropped many F-bombs before. That's more Tyler's thing.

"Yeah, fucking Salvatores," he agrees. "So, what _are _you doing?"

"Just...practicing a little," she says.

"Need any help?"

"No, I was just finishing actually."

"Oh." He tries to hide his disappointment.

"I was gonna take a shower," she adds.

"Oh," he repeats. "Well then, I'll go see what Tyler's up to. He might want to work out with me, I don't know." He turns to go.

"Jeremy."

"Yeah?"

She spreads her fingers, raises her shoulders. He realizes she's nervous. "Do you want to...hop in with me?"

"In the shower?" He's already smiling and it only gets bigger when she confirms it. "Yeah, I want to."

Bonnie locks the door with magic while her lips are molded to his and when the water starts running, he smiles against her mouth. It doesn't last as long as before. They're both worried Tyler might come knocking on the door. Still Jeremy twists her hair around his fingers as the warm spray of water soaks them both. When she wraps her legs around his waist, he sighs into her mouth. And it's great. Perfect. He's so glad to be kissing her again, to be touching her like this and hearing whispers of his name in his ear. When she comes, her arms wrapped around his neck and her fingers digging into his skin, he swallows her moans in a kiss and follows behind her.

* * *

Bonnie hadn't considered the logistics of living with two teenage boys enough to be prepared for their return to school. Up until now they were on a relaxed schedule, able to work around each other easily. But the morning classes start up again, they're all trying to get ready together and Bonnie's really wishing there was a spell to create an extra bathroom because while she's trying to do her hair, Jeremy's brushing his teeth and Tyler _still_ hasn't put a shirt on even though he's been up longer than either of them and is now doing his hair.

"We're gonna be late," she says, ducking past them both. She grabs her jacket and pulls it on.

"We will if you don't come on," Tyler says now fully dressed. He grins like he's been pushing for their punctual arrival all morning.

"I see you found a shirt," she says as she follows him down the stairs.

"Or a shirt found me. I'll drive."

"Jeremy!" Bonnie calls. "We're leaving!"

He comes down, walking at a leisurely pace as he puts his jacket on. "Who's driving?"

"I am," Tyler says. "We're being eco-friendly this morning."

"Someone give us a medal."

They pull into the parking lot with five minutes to spare until the bell rings and they go their separate ways to homeroom. It's weird, being away from them both after spending the bulk of her time with them thus far. She won't see Tyler until lunch but she'll see Jeremy for history. Other than that, she's going to be spending most of her day with Caroline and Elena, that is if Elena decides to show. It's not until Bonnie gets to homeroom where Caroline is texting furiously that she remembers they usually meet up at their lockers before to catch up on gossip.

"You're late," Caroline says as Bonnie sinks down into the desk next to her.

"Yeah," she says. "Jeremy and Tyler took their sweet time."_  
_

Caroline's glossed lips turn into a frown. "Tyler's still at your house? Did you talk to Klaus?"

Bonnie might have planned on letting Caroline in on that change of plans. She also might have forgotten.

"Yeah," she says, "but we..."

She doesn't know how to explain to Caroline that she likes having Tyler at her house, that Tyler likes being at her house. That she couldn't send him back to his huge, empty mansion with memories of his murdered pack and fled mother. And selfishly, she didn't want her house, their home base, being brought down to two when she's gotten so used to him and Jeremy raiding her fridge, alternating on cooking and watching TV with her, plotting to kill Stefan in her living room and mixing vodka and ice cream in the middle of the night. And she doesn't really have to because the bell rings and announcements begin and she makes a big show of listening to them.

That buys her only a few minutes because as soon as announcements are over, they've got time to kill before it's time to go so Bonnie stands to go to her locker. She knows Caroline will follow and she's not disappointed. As she twists the combination lock, the blond hovers at her side. "So, what did you do?"

"He didn't want to go back to his place," Bonnie says, "and I had room so I let him stay."

"Oh," she says, glancing down at her hands. "That makes sense, I guess."

But she looks so sad. Sad because Tyler's not at home, that he's not with her, that she doesn't know anything about what he's doing anymore and Bonnie's now relaying information.

"And," Bonnie adds, looking for anything to change the subject, "I had sex with Jeremy."

And it's like Tyler is instantly forgotten.

Caroline gasps and covers her mouth with her hands. It's only by the familiar squint of Caroline's eyes Bonnie knows she's smiling. She looks away from her, grinning at the books in her locker instead as she starts pulling them out.

"I'm so happy for you," Caroline says, throwing her arms around Bonnie's waist and squealing into her neck. "How was it?" Then she pulls back. "Was that the first time with him?"

Bonnie rolls her eyes and remembers she'd never gotten around to telling Caroline about her and Jeremy the first time. "It was really good. And no."

"So are you back together?"

"No," Bonnie answers.

Caroline's excitement is slightly affected. "No?"

"No."

"Oh."

"So it was like a one time thing?"

Bonnie shakes her head. "No."

"So you're gonna do it again?"

"We already did." First the shower then again last night. He'd even slept in her room with her and she's still not sure whether or not that crosses some kind of line in their arrangement.

Caroline's made a lot of faces in the time Bonnie's known her but Bonnie doesn't remember her ever holding an expression this long. Her mouth hangs open, somewhere between shock and glee. When she finally stops and her face transforms into a mask of vaguely amused calm, she speaks. "So you're having sex with Jeremy Gilbert."

"Yep."

"Good sex with Jeremy Gilbert."

"Yep."

Caroline nods slowly. "You're having good sex."

She's going to savor this information for awhile.

"With Jeremy Gilbert."

Bonnie nods. "That is what I said."

"I'm so happy for you," Caroline says. "Did you guys talk about that whole Anna thing?"

"Yeah."

"How'd that go?"

"Well, we had sex after so it went okay," Bonnie says.

Caroline's grinning again. She may be more excited than Bonnie is and Bonnie's the one who had the sex.

"Well, I guess this means nothing's gonna happen between you and _Atticus_."

"Yes, _this_ is why nothing's going to happen with me and Shane."

She leads Caroline back into the classroom and for the three minutes they have left until the bell rings, Caroline won't stop smiling and when they get to history and Jeremy's already there, she smiles even harder.

* * *

"Bonnie Bennett."

She's traversing the cafeteria with the grace of someone who's used to the organized chaos of the lunch room but pauses when Tyler says her name. "Hey," she says with a smile. "How are your classes?"

"Boring. Yours?"

"Same."

Caroline's coming out of the lunch line. She'll either come to urge Bonnie along or go to their usual table in the corner they share with Elena. "Seen Jeremy today?"

"In history but otherwise no," she answers. "Why?"

Caroline's coming toward them so he makes it fast, pulling the flyer from his Chemistry book and showing it to her. He's scribbled a note at the bottom.

"_Another _decade dance?" she sighs.

It's the 70s this time. He nods and points to his cramped writing.

_We kill Stefan that night._

He can see she's got a million questions and probably a million reasons why they shouldn't do it that night but he's already discussed it with Jeremy. Stefan won't go, not when he's no longer a student and on the outs with Elena and Caroline both. But Caroline will definitely be in attendance and she'll drag Elena with her. And neither Elena nor Caroline is going to pay a lot of attention to Tyler, not if Caroline's looking to make it clear she's getting over him. Elena will probably focus on Jeremy but all Jeremy has to do is what he does best and focus on Bonnie. They'll have the perfect excuse for them to remain scarce. If they play it right, Stefan will be dead and they'll have an airtight alibi.

Bonnie nods tersely. He hears her voice in his head. _Okay._ She drags a finger along his words and when she takes it away, they're gone.

Welcome to Mystic Falls, where everything happens at a decade dance.

Caroline reaches them and smiles awkwardly at him. "Hi."

"Hey."

"Decade dance," she says, sounding a little _too_ excited even for her. "They planned this one without me."

"So it's gonna be horrible," Bonnie says, looking away from Tyler to focus on Caroline.

"Probably," she agrees, "but we should still go. We deserve a good party."

"Then I guess we're going," Bonnie says.

"Are you going to take _Jeremy_?"

She must have filled Caroline in on her thing with Jeremy.

Bonnie rolls her eyes. "I don't know. Let's go sit down." They turn to go but Bonnie pauses to look back at him. "Do you want to sit with us or...?"

He's never sat with them before. Usually he's with Matt but now Matt sits with them or skips lunch entirely and Tyler sits with the guys from the football team. If Caroline and Elena weren't going to be there, he'd accept her offer.

"Thanks," he says, "but I'm sitting with the team."

_Oh that's right,_ Bonnie says. _The _other_ team. _Her lips twitch upward into a slight smile and he's careful not to smile back too enthusiastically. Caroline's still watching.

"Well, see you later," she says out loud.

"Yeah."

Caroline raises her hand in an awkward wave and leads Bonnie away.

* * *

**Has there ever been a cafeteria scene in the entirety of this show? This chapter came so easy so I'm updating sooner than usual. Caroline may have been my favorite (I always love when she's with Bonnie). And now Tyler and Caroline both have definitive answers to the big Beremy question. As always, thanks for reviewing! ****Today I had an epiphany and realized exactly how this is going to end. And the end is near. Not like next chapter near. But it's nearer than we were 29 chapters ago. Thank you so much for reading this far and sticking with me, it's been fun. I hope you guys have enjoyed it as much as I have and we get to do it all again soon! Yay!**


	30. Human Bone

**After 410, which wasn't as bad as I expected, I've decided that I lied about not using Silas because now there are ideas I have and they are perfect and fit so nicely in with what else I had planned I don't know how I didn't consider it sooner. I will be using him which begins in this chapter as Shane gives Bonnie a PRESENT (if you watched 410 you know what it is).**

* * *

Human Bone

"We all have to go," Tyler says when they're back at Bonnie's after classes. "We've got to at least put in appearances."

"That's the easy part," Jeremy says. "Me and Bonnie can go together and leave early for some reason."

If he's trying to subtly ask Bonnie on a date, he's failing.

"Yours is more complicated," Bonnie says, turning to Tyler. "You have to go and you have to talk to Caroline or Elena. Preferably both."

"_Why_?" He can talk to Caroline. It'll be awkward but at least he _likes_ Caroline. Elena's a whole different matter.

"We need them both thinking you're there trying to have a good time," Bonnie says. "You can leave after me and Jeremy do, at least for awhile. Say you're smoking or something. Then you go _back_ when we're finished. As soon as we're finished. Me and Jeremy will handle Stefan's body."

Of course because he's the one with reason to want Stefan dead. Well, they've all got reasons but Tyler's are more immediate and Caroline's already said Stefan's worried Tyler might try to hurt him. And Bonnie and Jeremy can simply write off their disappearance as them going home to have sex.

It's a good excuse and it's too bad Tyler can't use the same one.

They have a week to get this right. And somewhere in the course of that they're supposed to find decent 70's costumes.

"Who picked the 70's anyway?" Jeremy says.

Bonnie shrugs. "What's the difference between the 60's and the 70's? I still have my dress from the 60's."

"I don't know," Tyler sighs. "But there's a decade's worth of time there so I'm sure something changed."

The hardest part of this may be the clothes. Go figure.

Bonnie will call Stefan to make sure he's at home or at least get him there. She'll feed him some kind of information regarding Damon's death and incapacitate him while he's distracted with it. Jeremy and Tyler will come when she calls and they'll go from there.

"I don't know if you guys will up for it," Tyler says, "but I want to be able to talk to him first. I want him to know why."

They didn't get that with Damon, who got to die without knowing what he was dying for. But that won't happen with Stefan. He can carry the message to Damon if he likes. He wants Stefan to know what pushed him into his grave and he wants him to die remembering everything he cost them and with the faces of the hybrids he murdered clear in his head.

But Jeremy and Bonnie both look a little hesitant. Stefan's lived past his expiration date more than once and now maybe they should just get it done and move on to their bigger, badder target.

Bonnie speaks. It's a democracy here but somehow when she talks it feels like law. "Yeah, we can do that."

* * *

After school the next day Bonnie heads to Whitmore after receiving a message from Shane. They haven't spoken since her last visit but he said he wanted to see her because he had something for her. Campus is still dead except for students taking winter courses and Shane's office building is still as quiet as she's ever seen it.

"I'm sorry," he says as soon as she enters the office.

"You are?"

"About everything," he says. "If I'd known you knew them, I would have told you sooner. I didn't mean to keep it from you."

Bonnie sits down in her usual seat across from his desk. "Okay. Is that all?"

"No," he says. "I have this." He opens up a drawer and pulls out a box. He withdraws some kind of pendant and holds it in his hand.

"There are things I haven't told you about the cure," he says, "and I'd like to tell you now."

"There's more stuff you've been keeping from me?"

"More stuff I've been keeping to myself," he specifies. "I haven't told anyone. But I want to tell you. You're a great girl, Bonnie and a powerful witch. In our time together, I've come to be very fond of you."

She really hopes this isn't about to become a literal teacher's pet thing because she doesn't think she has the energy for it right now. And she definitely doesn't have the energy to explain this to Tyler and Jeremy, who will inevitably make fun of her. Then she'll never be able to come back here and she'll have lost her magic teacher. And she'll have to find a new place to go to go to college because she'll never be able to come back here

"I think we're something like friends, right?".

"Right."

This doesn't too bad.

"That's why I think I should make sure you know what you're getting into. The cure may not be what you think it is," he explains.

"It's not?"

He leans back against his desk and folds his arms. That's his teaching pose, when he's about to say something impressive.

"There was a witch named Qetsiyah who was close friends with another witch , a male witch, named Silas. He asked for help in becoming immortal and she obliged because she loved him. But when he asked her to give immortality to another woman, a woman he truly loved, she was furious and killed her. Then she buried Silas alive, binding him and his magic with her blood. Your blood."

"She was a Bennett witch?"

Emily. Ayanna. Qetsiyah. Bonnie.

"Before the Bennett," he says, "but yes. The spell can only be broken and Silas' power returned to him by a Bennett witch."

"That's where I'm needed," she says.

Shane nods. "A Hunter's Mark is the incantation that will allow you to release him. Legend says to release Silas is to condemn the world to chaos."

"Then _why_ would I release him? What does he have to do with the cure?"

"Silas is the cure," he says. "I assume you're looking for a way to help your new vampire friend. That's what Klaus and Stefan said."

"Yeah," she says. It's only half a lie and it's one she feels comfortable telling. He's already gotten Klaus' attention and she doesn't want to wake up one morning to find him not answering his phone because the Original decided to rip out his heart.

"How accurate do you think that legend is?"

"I don't put much stock into it."

Bonnie doubts it'll matter much if they cure Klaus if Silas ends up destroying the world.

"Silas is the only one who knows the spell to cure vampirism," Shane says. "If you want to cure your friend, you have release him."

It could just be a legend, a bit of hype to discourage someone from freeing him, someone like Bonnie.

"And how do I find him?

"I can take you there," he says.

"You can?"

He nods. "I've been there before," he says. "So when you're ready, you can come to me. I'll help you, Bonnie. In the meantime, this belongs to you." She extends her hand so he can drop it into her palm. "It was Qetsiyah's. It gave her strength."

"Does it actually do that?" she asks as she runs her fingers over it. "It's been a couple thousand years. What if it's lost its juice?" It's surprisingly nice looking, for something so old. Square with an old tarnished chain of some sort and deep grooves along its front. A silver bolt lies at its center.

"I don't know," Shane says with a shrug. "I don't exactly have the means to try it out. Feel different?"

"Not really," Bonnie says. "What's it made of?"

"Human bone," Shane answers. He smiles she frowns and her fingers twitch over the pendant.

"Thanks," she says anyway. "It's beautiful, material aside."

"Well, I figure it belongs with an actual Bennett witch," he says, "and that's you. So. You're welcome."

She smiles and closes her fist around it.

"Has Klaus contacted you again?"

"I told you I would if he did," Shane reminds her. "And he hasn't."

"He's dangerous." It's an understatement.

"I know," Shane says with a weak smile. "I'll be okay. You handle it just fine."

She rolls her eyes. Is there really a comparison? Yes, Shane's the adult here. She doesn't know exactly how old he is but he's got to be close to thirty. Shes' about to graduate high school and she doesn't know how she'd fare up against Klaus on her own but she'd do way better than Shane. She has a sick thought of Klaus snapping Shane's neck, as easy as blinking. "I'm a witch. You're a professor with a thing for witchcraft. There's a pretty big difference."

"I've got my tricks."

"Tricks aren't going to be enough against an Original hybrid," she reminds him. "If you're in trouble you can call me."

"And you'll speed over here to play hero?"

He says that like she won't.

"You have a better idea?"

Shane shrugs his shoulders. "No I guess I don't."

He'll call if he needs her.

"I ran into some family of mine," she says. "A cousin. She's a witch, too. She was telling me about Expression."

"The technical term," Shane says.

"She said it's good for going around the spirits."

"Yeah," he says. "That's why he started doing it. You needed magic that was yours and yours alone. When you did magic before, when you do your regular magic," he says, "you're almost channeling yourself. That's why I told you to use other sources if need be. It lessens the effect on your own body. But it still draws on nature. Expression doesn't. It's limitless."

"Do you think that's why my face did that thing? The black vein thing?"

Neither Tyler nor Jeremy's brought it up since they told her about it and she hadn't thought much of it either until now.

Shane clucks his tongue. "i'm glad you mentioned that actually. I did some research. That effect is a manifestation of the spell."

Bonnie raises her eyebrows.

"You killed that man, right?"

She nods.

"Essentially his life force, being, whatever you want to call it, had to go through you first," he explains. "You took his life from him and for a moment, it had to pass through you and then you redirected it toward bringing your friend back. It's just the energy. Nothing dangerous. Not toward you anyway."

"It's death?"

Shane nods. "It's not pretty but it's magic."

"But that doesn't happen all the time? Expression doesn't kill people all the time."

"No, no," he says. "It provides you with a different power source, yes. But it doesn't necessarily mean death. In the case of that specific spell, it had to be. Life pays for life. In order to go beyond nature and spirits, in order to go beyond _yourself_, Expression is required and depending on what you need, it could call for a human sacrifice."

_Life pays for life_.

In her purse, her phone chirps.

"I have to go," she says. She promised Caroline and Elena they'll have a girl's night and apparently she has to fill Elena in on the Jeremy thing, even though Jeremy said he already mentioned it and the last thing Bonnie wants to do is regale Jeremy's sister with tales of the sex they're having all over her house.

Shane nods. "I'll see you."

* * *

Elena's cleaned the whole house. It hasn't looked this good since Jenna was alive. They hole up in Elena's bedroom, all three of them squeezed onto her bed with Caroline and Elena listening intently as Bonnie explains her thing with Jeremy. Caroline jumps in from time to time, reminding them all that is not only is Bonnie having sex, but she's having good sex. Elena cringes a little every time and Bonnie tries not to smile.

"But you're not back together?" Elena asks.

Everyone's getting stuck on this part.

"No."

"No?"

Really stuck.

"No," Bonnie repeats.

"Oh." A beat. "I'm really happy for you!"

* * *

It's getting late and Bonnie hasn't left yet. And she doesn't want to really, not when they're being so normal. It's not like school's all that demanding just now. They have at least until the end of the week before something's expected of them. They're dancing around Elena's room and watching old music videos and talking about college. They're all in the same boat. Whitmore it is. Going anywhere else seems impossible. How could they leave Mystic Falls?

"You've already got an in with Shane," Elena says. "Are you still seeing him?"

Bonnie tells them she was there earlier and shows them Qetsiyah's pendant. She explains it's supposed to enhance her power. "It's pretty," Elena says.

"It's made of human bone."

Caroline, her fingers outstretched, recoils. "...Nice."

All three laugh.

"Why aren't you wearing it?" Elena questions.

"Oh, I don't know," Bonnie says with a shrug.

"Put it on," Elena presses.

She does, pulling it on over her head. She pulls her hair out from underneath it. The pendant hangs long down her chest.

"It looks good," Caroline said. "Do you feel powerful?"

Bonnie shrugs her shoulders. "Do I look powerful?"

"You look hot," Caroline sighs, rolling over onto her back. "Jeremy will _love_ it."

"Have you talked to Stefan?" Bonnie asks, turning her head to Elena who crosses her legs and sits close to Caroline's head. She reaches to play with her blond strands.

"Not really," she answers. "He came by but I told him to leave. I haven't seen him since and he hasn't called or anything. Have you?"

As far as Bonnie knows, Stefan still requires her help but he hasn't gotten in touch with her at all. Maybe he thinks she's not up for it after what happened at Nex. She'll have to make sure he know she still is. "No. Caroline?"

"Nope. I'm done with Stefan."

"Are you really?"

Elena, turning Stefan away. Caroline, being done. It feels so surreal. Now Bonnie's the only one with thoughts of him, thoughts of a polished, carefully whittled stake and Stefan's burning corpse.

"Yes," Caroline says. "Everything's changed. Can you believe awhile ago our biggest drama was Elena being sired to Damon? Now Damon's dead and Stefan's off the rails!"

Elena sighs.

"Sorry," Caroline says. "I mean, it's still a problem. You being sired and all."

"If Damon's dead, how's it a problem?"

This could very well begin an argument. And they were doing so well.

Welcome to Mystic Falls, where good things go bad really fast.

"It doesn't matter," Bonnie says quickly. "Stefan's still looking for the cure, right? If he finds it, it's not a big deal. _Right?_" She looks to Caroline for her agreement. The blond nods. "And if he doesn't, it's still fine. You're fine. We're all fine. Right?"

Stefan won't have the chance to find it. Bonnie will and they'll still cure Elena and Klaus and get exactly what they want.

* * *

"I hate that thing," Jeremy says. Only Tyler's around to hear him and he laughs accordingly. Bonnie's upstairs going through her grimoires and she said she'd be right back so they could go over their plans with Stefan. When she came back, from her girls night thing with Elena and Caroline, she showed them Shane's gift, holding it up to them and presenting it proudly as once belonging to a badass, scorned Bennett witch named Qetsiyah.

"It's made out of human bone!" She'd exclaimed and Jeremy and Tyler had both pasted impressed looks on their faces.

"You only hate it because the professor gave it to her," Tyler says as he takes a bottle of water from the refrigerator and tosses it to Jeremy. While Bonnie was at Whitmore, receiving gifts from Shane, they were in her backyard with Jeremy working on staking Tyler. He didn't hold himself badly at the bar. He did alright actually but he still remembers the feeling of fangs in his throat and he'd rather not feel that again. They only stopped because Bonnie came back.

"Do you have a better reason to hate it?"

Tyler shakes his head and turns away.

"I can give her jewelry," Jeremy says.

"You can't give her two thousand year old jewelry that used to belong to a badass Bennett witch who was scorned by some douchebag," Tyler points out. "Are you upset because that story could have been about you two?"

"_No_," Jeremy says. "What does that even mean?"

"Witch in love with a guy who loves someone else." Tyler shrugs his shoulders. "You don't see that?"

"No," he lies.

"Don't stress, Gilbert," Tyler advises. "I don't think Bonnie's the burying-guys-alive type. And Ghost Girl's already dead."

Bonnie comes back down with a grimoire in one hand and her cell phone in the other. "I just got a text from Stefan. He said he doesn't need my help anymore."

"Why not?"

"He said he doesn't want me involved," she says. "He's trying to respect Elena's wishes."

"Elena wishes you're not involved?" Tyler asks.

"It's about the bar," Jeremy sighs. It's gotta be. "He's going it alone. Walking the path of self-destruction and of being a dick." It's a path that used to belong to Damon. "So now what?"

"It's fine," Bonnie says with a shrug. "We keep doing what we're doing. And in a week, Stefan's dead."

* * *

**I tweaked the Qetsiyah/Silas story as suits this fic and makes more sense (because I'm not sure if it makes sense show wise).**

**Anyway, as always, thank you for reading/reviewing!**


	31. Caught

**This one is all from Tyler's POV.**

* * *

Caught

"You like that thing, huh?" Tyler says as he leans against the line of lockers while Bonnie takes her books from hers to drop into her backpack. Her gift from Shane hangs around her neck. She didn't seem to have much of a problem working it in with the rest of her wardrobe and since she got home last night she hasn't taken it off.

"Yeah," she says. "You don't like it?"

"No, it's nice," he assures her. Impulsively he reaches out to touch it and she looks down as his fingers trace the front of the pendant, running along the neat lines and the silver bolt at its center. "Looks good on you."

Bonnie smiles and raises her eyes to his face. They can't be any greener than usual but they look that way to him. "Thanks."

He's still holding it when Caroline speaks from behind him and he drops the necklace like it's burning.

"Hey," she says.

Tyler turns. "Hey." She smiles politely and looks like she might say something more but he speaks before she has the chance. "I gotta go."

"...Okay," he hears Caroline say as he moves down the hallway.

He's not sure why he feels _caught. _He's just talking to Bonnie, his new friend who saved his ass and is letting him crash at her house. It's perfectly normal if he wants to talk to her at school. He doesn't have to run away from Caroline because he wants to have a conversation with her. They can both be friends with Bonnie and it doesn't have to be awkward. And it doesn't have to be a big deal he was touching her necklace, his fingers very close to her bare skin, exposed by her V-neck sweater. It doesn't have to mean anything that he's perfectly comfortable standing close to Bonnie, touching her necklace and noticing the color of her eyes. How many times has he seen Caroline touch Bonnie? Friends touch each other sometimes. He didn't do anything wrong.

It would have been nice if he'd come to this conclusion earlier, before he'd run away.

* * *

It's a struggle not to fall asleep in his English class, where they've already started reading some novel Tyler hasn't bought much less opened. He sits in the back corner, his usual spot and tries to keep his eyes open. He still has to graduate after all. But Caroline's in this class, too. She used to sit next to him but she claimed a seat at the front as soon as she came in and didn't look at him once. He's sure it's because of the way he acted earlier, hurrying away from her like she was some kind of dangerous new species.

This is what a break up is.

_Tyler._

Bonnie's voice being in his head isn't new but he still jumps and hopes no one noticed.

_Can you hear me?_

It wouldn't matter since he's never been able to speak back to Bonnie when she does these little things but he tells her he can anyway.

_Good_. _ Come outside._

Well this is new.

_I'm trying to learn, Bonnie_, he says jokingly. He can actually hear her laughing.

_Come outside, _she repeats. _Football field. I'm waiting._

Tyler's certain the only reason Bonnie knows her way the football field is because they used to spend an annoying amount of time there for practice. When she was a cheerleader, when the football season was still happening. Otherwise he can't remember her ever showing any interest so he doesn't know why she's out there now. He excuses himself from class and walks out to the field. Bonnie's standing in the center, her head tilted back to the sky and her hair blowing in the wind.

"What are you doing?" he calls.

She turns. "Waiting for you."

"Are you skipping class right now?" he asks. "Bonnie Bennett skips class?"

"It's only Chemistry," she says. "And for some reason none of the lab equipment was working properly." She shoots him a mischievous look and he gathers the malfunction was magical in nature. "So Ms. Robinson let us leave. And I've skipped lots of class actually."

"Really? When?"

She falls silent and doesn't answer. Instead she says, "I called Jeremy, too but he's in Algebra and he has to do better this semester so." She shrugs her shoulders. "It's just you and me."

"For what?"

"A spell," she says. "I want to try it now that I've got this." She touches her pendant. "And I need to keep working. It's a muscle," she says. "You're coming along for the ride. We're outside and it's a beautiful day."

"And I'm here for moral support?"

"Kind of," Bonnie says. "I wanted some company and you were falling asleep anyway."

He smiles at that, her wanting him around. For company. "How'd you know I was falling asleep?"

"I sensed you," she answers with a light shrug.

"The whole telepathy thing, you're getting good at that," he comments.

"I think it's easier because I've been spending so much time with you," she sighs. "Like our brains are tuning in to each other now."

"Well, it'll definitely make our covert conversations easier."

Bonnie grins. "That's the plan. Now, come here." She holds out her hand and he takes it and stands by her side.

"So what's the spell?"

"Teleportation," she says. "I'm going to take us from right here to the end zone." He remembers when she was a cheerleader, when he could have turned his head during a game and found her there. He'd never looked for her then but he'd look for her now. "Are you really?"

She nods her head. "Yes."

"Wouldn't it be easier to try it by yourself first?"

Bonnie sighs and looks at him. "Probably but I'm doing it this way. I want to see how far I can go at the start, see if this necklace does anything. Would you rather go back to class?"

"I'll have to go back at some point," he reminds her. "Unless you can magic me out of it."

She may be able to. "Just be quiet."

It's cold out but he doesn't feel it. If she does, she doesn't show it. Instead she closes her eyes and tightens her hold on his hand. He closes his, too, as if that'll do anything. She works in silence, like usual. They stand there for so long Tyler wonders if he should ask if there's a problem or something but she squeezes his hand, jostling his arm until he opens his eyes.

They aren't standing in the end zone.

They're in the parking lot behind it.

"It worked," he says.

Bonnie's smiling as she turns. She's still got hold of his hand so he turns with her and watches her as she stares at the cars, the metal shining beneath the sun.

"I overshot it," she says, "but yeah. It worked. I can't believe it."

"I can." She smiles at the compliment. "Do you feel okay?"

Bonnie nods. "Yeah, I think so. Let's do it again. Where do you want to go?"

"Wherever you want to go."

She's so excited. And he's excited for her as she squeezes his fingers. He hasn't closed his eyes this time because he's staring at her, with her eyes closed and her lashes fluttering against her cheeks. She's quiet but she mouths words to herself, her smile still tugging at her lips and lighting up her face. He's only aware they've moved because the landscape behind Bonnie has gone from green to brown. Solid brick. He blinks and realizes they're in the Grill's parking lot, tucked into shadow near the dumpster.

"Whoa," he says. "That's _awesome._"

"Yeah," she breathes. "We should get you back though. You have to _learn." _

He closes his eyes this time in case she happens to catch him looking. He opens them only when Bonnie's fingers slip from his. They're back on the field. She stumbles and he reaches out to steady her. "Well," she says with a weak smile, "it was fun while it lasted." He can hear the disappointment in her voice as he puts an arm around her waist and leads her sit on the grass. They realize her nose is bleeding at the same time. As he reaches out, to do what, he doesn't know, she wipes it away with her sleeve.

"Shit." She stares down at it and sighs. "I"m fine. You should get back to class." When he doesn't move, she frowns. "I'm okay. _Really_. Nothing I haven't dealt with before."

Tyler speeds into the locker room instead and returns with a wad of tissues for hers. When he gets back, the smell of her blood is distracting and he swallows down the thirst, reminding himself he's got a blood bag in Bonnie's car if if he needs one. She dabs at her nose with her sleeve and rolls her eyes when he sits down next to her, like she actually expected him to leave.

"Come here," he says. "Give me your nose."

"I would if I could," she mumbles, inching closer to him so he can tilt her head back with one hand and press down with the tissue with the other.

"Been awhile since you've had one of these," he says.

"Yeah," she sighs. "Well, I was getting stronger. I just pushed myself too hard today. I'll recover."

"I know. Does it hurt?"

"Sometimes," she answers. "Not today."

She says it a bit too fast and he gaze snaps to hers.

"It hurt," she admits with a sigh, "but I'm fine. I promise."

Tyler continues to dab at her nose until the blood comes away in smaller and smaller dots. It's mostly passed. Still, he examines her to make sure. The scent of the blood has dulled, focused mainly on the ball of tissue in his hand.

"It was still some really good magic," she says and he can tell she's fishing for him to agree, to take some attention off of her bloody nose and her pain. He gives her what she wants in the form of a nod, a smile and a mumbled, "Yeah."

He takes her hands and pulls Bonnie to her feet. She's still unsteady and he puts a hand on her waist to keep her next to him. "Are you sure you're okay?"

She nods. "I'm fine. I just need a minute."

"Would my blood help?" he asks.

"I'll be _fine," _she insists and he doesn't miss the aggravation in her tone. She doesn't either. "I don't mean it in a bad way. I just...I don't need it. I don't want it in my system. Ever since my mom - Abby..." He can't tell if she's mad at herself for calling her mom or if she's angry at the memory his offer conjured but she doesn't say anything else and he only guides her into step. She wraps her other arm around his waist and doesn't say anything until they're back inside.

"Thanks for coming out," she says as they pass through the doors. He tosses the tissue into the trash as they go.

"Thanks for giving me a reason." The hallways are empty. He's been gone for way longer than he should have been for a typical bathroom back but whatever. It's the beginning of the semester. "Do you need anything before I go back?"

She shakes her head. "I'm okay. I have a study period next so I'll just relax for awhile."

He withdraws his arm.

"Call if you need anything," he says.

"I don't want to interrupt your _learning_," she says, now fingering the pendant with a small smile.

"I'd rather listen to your voice than Mr. Reeds," he says. "So interrupt anytime."

The bell rings and he nearly jumps. He takes a step away from her as the hallway begins to flood with people. He feels like they've been caught somehow. "I have to go get my stuff."

Bonnie nods her head, looking slightly confused at his quick withdrawal and raises her hand in a slight wave. He gets back into the classroom and finds that Caroline is still there, lingering near the door.

"I just-I wanted to make sure you came back," she says. "For your stuff."

"Thanks." He swallows and waits for her to add something else.

She only says, "You're welcome" and walks past him into the hallway. Tyler grabs his things and when he turns toward the window, he realizes it faces the football field.

* * *

Caroline approaches him after school. He's standing at Bonnie's car waiting for her and Jeremy to come out. He'd spotted Caroline's shiny blond head awhile ago and had willed her not to see him. Alas, Bonnie's magic hasn't been rubbing off.

"Hey," he says.

She doesn't ask him about the football field. If she even saw anything. And what was there to see anyway? Him and Bonnie doing magic together. Technically, him being around while Bonnie did magic. And that's not strange. Caroline's done plenty of spells with Bonnie, he's sure.

"I just wanted to know if you were going to the decade dance," she says.

"Yeah, I'm going," he says. "Bonnie and Jeremy think I should start trying to have fun again."

"They're right," she says. "You should."

"You're going, right?" He says it more to make conversation than anything. He was right there when she said she was going with Bonnie.

"Wouldn't miss it."

His gaze slides past her to the doors where Bonnie and Jeremy are coming through, making their way toward him.

Caroline says, "Bonnie mentioned you're still staying with her and Jeremy." Her and Jeremy. Bonnie and Jeremy. They're the (sort of) couple, he's the newly single friend. He's staying with them. Him and Jeremy aren't staying with Bonnie. Tyler's staying with both of them. He's the odd one. Caroline says, "I think it's a good idea. You shouldn't be by yourself." _  
_

"Yeah," Tyler says.

Caroline glances over her shoulder. She must see Jeremy and Bonnie approaching because she speaks fast. "I just want you to know that I hope we can still be friends. I mean, _I_ still want to be friends."

Tyler nods immediately. "Yeah, of course."

Caroline's smile is so big he wonders if she honestly thought he'd say no.

"Good," she says. "I just thought it might have been weird this morning."

Maybe she did think he'd say no. "It wasn't," he assures her. "I just had to go."

"Oh. Okay," Caroline says. "Well, I'll see you tomorrow."

Tyler nods and when Bonnie and Jeremy get close enough, Bonnie calls out to Caroline and he doesn't have to say anything more.

* * *

Bonnie's sitting at the kitchen table when Tyler comes in, her pendant in hand. She's got her history book in front of her and a cup of tea but she's not reading her book or drinking the tea. She's just staring at her necklace. "You feeling better?" he asks.

"Yeah, I feel fine," she says.

He sits down next to her. "You ever get tired of looking at thing?"

"I'm sure I will eventually," she answers. "It's a cool story."

"Do you think it works?"

She shakes her head. "I started bleeding earlier so I doubt it." There's a particular tone Bonnie uses when she's disappointed by something. She wishes things were different but is resigned to them. "I kind of wish I was like her."

"Qetsiyah?" She nods. "Well, she didn't take shit, did she?"

The corner of Bonnie's mouth twitches. "Do you think I do?"

"That's not what I meant," he says quickly.

She smiles a little. "I know. I'm just asking. Do you think I do?"

Tyler's first thought is of Elena, how she doesn't deserve someone like Bonnie, who is willing to give everything to her without receiving anything in return. And how Bonnie never asks anything of Elena, not her thanks, not her respect, not even her presence. How, out of the three of them, the least likely to do harm to either Salvatore is Bonnie, though they've hurt her plenty. Elena doesn't acknowledge Bonnie's pain, doesn't even know it exists but Bonnie never stops thinking about Elena's.

After all this time, it still pisses him off.

Agreeing to kill Stefan and Damon is the most selfish thing Tyler's ever seen Bonnie do, maybe the most selfish thing Bonnie's ever done. And he feels another surge of gratitude that she came on board, knowing what it would mean if Elena ever found out, what would mean even if Elena never found out.

He sighs. "I told you I wasn't going to talk about Elena anymore." It seems like so long ago he made that promise.

"I'll allow it," she says. "Just this once."

"I don't want to make you mad," he says.

She rolls her eyes. "You're not going to."

"I'm not sure if I believe you. When the last owner of that thing got mad she buried a guy alive," he jokes. "Not a club I want to join."

"I won't bury you alive, Tyler," Bonnie says. "That's cruel. When I bury you, you'll be dead."

She gets funnier everyday.

"Say it," Bonnie urges. "You think I take shit? From Elena?"

He hesitates until she raises her eyebrows expectantly. Her eyes are _so _green_._ "Yeah."

"I've noticed the differences," she says. "Since her parents died, she's been different. And when Damon and Stefan came, she changed even more. But I still remember who she used to be and there's a chance she could be that person again."

"After Stefan's dead, you mean."

"Even since Damon. She was sad but now she's normal. Or she's really good at pretending to be. You think I should let her go and you're not the first person to tell me that."

"I'm not?"

She shakes her head. "You're one of two."

"Who was the other one?"

"My Grams. She said Elena wasn't my problem to solve."

He tries to remember Bonnie's grandmother. There's a vague vision of someone coming to pick Bonnie up from school sometimes, back when they were in elementary school. He only remembers dark curls. "Smart lady."

Bonnie's eyebrow twitches.

"I think you take Elena's shit," he says. "But she doesn't care about you the way you care about her. Or the way I care about you. You deserve better, Bonnie. Maybe Qetsiyah deserved better, too and maybe she knew it. What if Silas was just an asshole who she gave everything to? What if used her and her love for him to get what he wanted?"

"You think I should bury Elena alive?"

"No." It takes him a minute to realize she's still joking. "You are like Qetsiyah, Bonnie. You're powerful and you love people who maybe don't deserve that from you."

He doesn't know how to say he's deserving of it, that Jeremy's deserving of it. They're willing to give it all back to her. Everything she's done for Tyler, he'll repay somehow. He just knows Elena's not as worthy as Bonnie seems to believe she is. Maybe she's been better recently despite the sire bond, despite Damon dying, despite everything, and maybe there's some hope she'll return to her former self, a person who loved Bonnie and deserved every good thing Bonnie could give her. But he thinks it'll be too late and Elena's time has past.

Tyler reaches out to touch the tips of her fingers to her own. "You're so-"

He hears Jeremy coming up the porch steps and withdraws his hand. When he comes through the front door, Tyler doesn't know why he feels again like he's been caught and whatever it was he thinks Bonnie is _so _fades from his mouth.

* * *

They're kissing.

Tyler can hear them from the living room. He turns up the television, like that will make his supernatural hearing stop working. He still hears Bonnie's breath hitch when Jeremy touches her somewhere, obviously a good somewhere. He puts in headphones and focuses on the music instead. He's gotten good at focusing on certain sounds over others but he's not so good at it today. The headphones don't help. He still hears them, still kissing.

He sighs. He figured he'd be the one bothering them, not the other way around.

When hears zippers being pulled down, he grabs his keys.

* * *

**Feel free to speculate on what Caroline did or did not see. And what she may or may not have assumed about what she may or may not have seen. :) **

**I don't want to give away the specific number of chapters remaining because then it's easy for you to guess what's coming next and I want to make sure you're all surprised (it also keeps fluctuating on my end). But the end is coming.**

**Thanks for reading/reviewing.**


	32. Dream A Little Disco

**So 411 was the best Bonnie episode we've gotten in a long time and I'm still riding the high from it. That being said, there was some writer's block involved in the writing of this chapter but it's here and I'm pleased with it. Time for a decade dance! **

* * *

Dream A Little Disco

Bonnie agreed to get ready for the dance with Caroline and Elena. They haven't done this since their sophomore homecoming but Caroline's doing everything in her power not to miss Tyler and Elena won't admit it but Bonnie thinks she's trying to prove the sire bond isn't a big deal anymore. When Bonnie gets to Elena's house, with a tote bag full of makeup and hair products and her dress thrown over her shoulder, the music is turned up so loud she can hear it from outside and when she gets upstairs she finds Caroline and Elena playing with their hair in Elena's mirror.

"Finally," Elena says, turning down the music, "what took you so long?"

"I'm like a minute late," Bonnie answers.

"She probably got caught up having sex with Jeremy," Caroline says, speeding over to grip Bonnie's hand and pull her over where she takes Bonnie's dress from her and examines it critically.

Elena grimaces. "I don't like picturing Jeremy having sex with anyone."

"Then stop picturing it," Caroline advises, handing Bonnie's dress back with an approving smile. "You're gonna look so hot. You _are_ hot. We're all hot."

Bonnie rolls her eyes.

"Now, which one should I wear?" Caroline asks.

"You brought multiples?" Bonnie asks, perching on the edge of Elena's bed. So Caroline.

"Of course I did," Caroline says. "Option number one is this." She holds up a slinky blue bodysuit. "Option number two is this." And a shiny white minidress.

"I like the dress," Elena says in the mirror.

"I like the bodysuit."

Caroline sighs. "That doesn't actually help but thank you. Let's try again. Which one do you think will make Tyler want to dance with me?"

Elena turns around and her and Bonnie exchange looks. "I thought you were getting over Tyler," Elena says.

"I am," Caroline says, lowering her arms just slightly and smiling weakly. "I just...I want to look nice, you know."

Bonnie doesn't want to tell her Tyler's not going to care either way. He never talks about Caroline, not even when Bonnie talks about Caroline. And she remembers how he ran off when Caroline approached them in the hallway. Caroline's always beautiful and has always been beautiful but now Tyler doesn't see it, or even look for it.

Elena opens her mouth to say something but Bonnie interrupts. "Then you should wear the bodysuit. Your boobs will look better in that." Caroline likes to call it "boobage".

Caroline smiles gratefully and looks to Elena for her input.

"Yeah," Elena agrees.

Caroline takes the longest. Bonnie's always been the fastest at getting ready for these things and Elena generally keeps things simple, too. But Caroline makes everything into an event. Even while Bonnie is sitting on the bed in her short minidress and boots and tugging at her curls (Caroline's already slapped her hand away from them more than once because she's sure Bonnie will ruin those perfect Fawcett waves) and Elena's adjusting the headband crossing her forehead, Caroline's still perfecting her lipgloss.

"Caroline," Bonnie says finally. "You're going to make us late."

"We have to arrive fashionably late anyway, Bonnie," Caroline says from the bathroom.

Elena's phone beeps and she reaches for it. "It's Stefan."

"What's he want?"

"Nothing," Elena answers. "He just wanted to tell me he was out of town." She tosses her phone back down without typing a reply and turns her attention to her hair again.

"He's what?"

"He went on a trip or something. He just left."

_Shit_.

"Is he coming back?"

"Yeah," Elena says. "He said it's gonna be a short trip."

"Where did he go?"

"He didn't say."

"Is he still looking for Damon's killers? Or is this about the cure?"

Elena looks thoughtful for a minute then shrugs. "Probably both. That's all he thinks about. Damon and the cure."

"You don't think about Damon and the cure?"

"I do think about Damon," Elena says. "All the time. I feel like we didn't really have a chance to...be anything. It was too early. And if Stefan can find who killed him, then I want him to. I just don't want him to destroy himself or me...or us in the process. I'm not going to encourage him to do it if he has to self destruct to get it done. I'd rather we never know who did it than lose Stefan, too."

_But you will lose Stefan, too_.

But it seems Stefan's bought himself at least one more night.

"You don't want to find them anymore?"

"I do," Elena admits, "and I want to make them pay for it. But Damon wouldn't want-" She stops suddenly and Bonnie knows she realizes what she said. "_I _don't want," she corrects, "to jeopardize. what's happening here now. Me and Jeremy are fixing things and me and Caroline are better. Your magic is back. We're all _better_ despite what's happened."

But they're not better. Tyler's miserable, miserable enough that he came to Bonnie in the first place. But maybe Elena thinks as little of Tyler as he does of her. And Bonnie and Jeremy agreed to help.

Welcome to Mystic Falls, where nothing is _fine__. _

"And the cure?"

"I'm sure Klaus is still going to force it down my throat," Elena sighs.

"You don't want it?"

"When Damon was alive, it made sense," she says. "Because of the sire bond. And everyone telling me I was different. And I figured if I was so sure it was real then being human again wouldn't change anything. I'd just be...Klaus' doppelganger again and I was okay with that. I can be that. I've been that before. But if I do it now, how will I...defend myself?"

"From what?"

"Everything," Elena says. "There's always something, someone. If the people who killed Damon aren't done..."

"They've been laying low," Bonnie points out. "Maybe they are done."

"But what if they're not? Stefan told me about the thing with his journal."

Bonnie shakes her head slightly, thinking of their now ruined plans to finish off Stefan tonight. They could have been done. "Elena-"

"Stop it," Caroline says, emerging from the bathroom. "You're depressing me. We're going to this dance and we're going to have the _best_ time. We're not going to talk about Stefan or the people who killed Damon or anything like that. We're just going to dance and be disco queens."

"Agreed," Elena says, jumping to her feet. "Let's go."

"Wait," Caroline says, holding up her hand. "Are you really going to wear that?" She points to Bonnie's chest, at Qetsiyah's pendant dangling between her breasts.

"Yes," Bonnie says.

"It's not era appropriate," Caroline reminds her. She sighs when Bonnie gives her a look. "Well, if you insist.'

* * *

"These things are so lame," Jeremy says. They're standing at the wall, holding it up practically and looking out at the gym floor. It's packed with people who all arrived on time, which is more than Tyler can say for Bonnie, Elena and Caroline who still aren't there.

"Well, this will be our last one," Tyler says. "Well, _my_ last one."

"Don't brag," Jeremy sighs. "I'm just ready to finish Stefan."

Tyler cracks a smile and turns his head to the door. His car's outside, with Jeremy's gear in it. They're ready to go whenever Bonnie gives them the signal. He didn't think he'd have to kill Stefan while wearing a psychedelic shirt and bell bottoms but that's what he's got to work with. He's jealous of Jeremy's equally ridiculous though thankfully black shirt.

There's a flash of movement and Bonnie enters.

Caroline and Elena are at her sides, Caroline clinging enthusiastically to Bonnie's arm. She looks excited now but Tyler knows she'll start critiquing the decorations soon enough. As if cued, Caroline points upward at the multiple disco balls hanging from the ceiling, directing Elena and Bonnie to look, too. Bonnie glances away first and her gaze finds him instantly. He smiles when she waves at him.

"Finally," Jeremy says from beside him. He's just seen her, too.

_We need to talk_.

Her voice is louder than the music and that doesn't sound good. In fact, it sounds pretty damn bad. But she's stuck with Caroline and Elena at the moment. When Caroline finally gets over the disco balls, she lets Bonnie drag them over.

"You guys look great," Elena says. "You look so handsome, Jer."

"Yeah, thanks," Jeremy says. "You look nice." He adds it as an afterthought.

Tyler looks down at the floor, to avoid making eye contact with Caroline or Elena, and catches sight of the tip of Bonnie's boot. He lets his gaze follow it up the shiny black material. It's not leather. Probably something else. He can't remember what Caroline calls it. But his gaze reaches Bonnie's knee and the top of the boot and finds himself staring at bare skin instead. Her dress is a lot shorter than he first realized and for some reason he can't look away so he follows the line of her leg, tinted red and purple in the weird lights, to the bottom of her purple dress, hugging her hips-

_Compliment Caroline._

His eyes move up to Bonnie's. The green is harder to make out in the dark. She doesn't look like she noticed he was staring at her.

_What?_ he asks.

_Compliment Caroline's outfit, _she repeats. _Tell her she looks nice_.

_Why? _He realizes now he hasn't actually looked at Caroline really.

_Please._

Elena's still talking to Jeremy though Tyler doesn't know what's being said. He looks to Caroline, staring off into the distance with a quizzical look on her face, probably wondering who picked this music or something like that. "You look nice," he says.

She turns her head. "What?"

"You look nice," he repeats. She does look nice actually. The neckline of her suit gives her the perfect amount of "boobage" as she used to call it. She used to ask him to make sure.

A grin appears on Caroline's face and she laughs a little. He used to love that laugh. "Thank you. So do you."

"Thanks."

"Well, I'm ready to dance," Caroline says, looking expectantly toward Elena and Bonnie. "Ladies?"

"I'm ready," Elena says, taking Caroline's offered hand. "Bonnie?"

"Give me a minute," Bonnie says. "I just want to talk to Jeremy."

Caroline drags Elena onto the dance floor with a last look at Jeremy which involves some wiggling eyebrows. Once the other two are swallowed up in the crowd, Bonnie pulls Jeremy and Tyler into the empty hallway. The doors close behind them and Bonnie speaks. "Stefan's gone," she says.

Jeremy frowns. "He's _what_?"

"He left earlier," Bonnie explains. "He told Elena but he didn't mention where he was going."

"Is he coming back?" Jeremy questions.

Tyler sags against the row of lockers and leans his head back. They just can't catch a break with Stefan. First at his party and then now. Killing Damon was easy in comparison.

"He told Elena he was," Bonnie says. "She just doesn't know when. He said it wouldn't be long."

"Fuck," Tyler breathes.

Bonnie and Jeremy turn to look at him. "We can get him when he comes back," she says.

"Whenever that is," Tyler says.

Jeremy looks his way and sighs. "I'm thirsty," he says finally. He's leaving because he doesn't know what else to say and probably because he knows Bonnie's better at dealing with an emotional Tyler. Jeremy was looking forward to killing Stefan, too but he's taking this change of plans better than him. Then again Jeremy gets to spend the night dancing with Bonnie and they get to leave early and actually have sex so of course he can live with it. Meanwhile Tyler's in these stupid pants and they're not going to be killing Stefan.

As Jeremy goes back into the gym, Tyler turns against the lockers, putting his palms against them and telling himself they'll get another shot.

"Might as well have fun while we're here," Bonnie says. He feels her hand on his back, small and warm. She steps closer to him and leans against the lockers to face him, folding her mouth into a weak smile.

"Fun would have been killing Stefan."

That would have been _so_ much fun.

"Yeah," she agrees, "it would have been. But not tonight. Come on. It's a _disco_." She says that like it's supposed to convince him.

"I think I'm just gonna dis-_go_," he says.

Bonnie raises her eyebrows and presses her lips together to keep from laughing.

"That was stupid," he admits.

"A little." Then she grows serious. "But you're not leaving."

"Bonnie-"

"I know you're disappointed."

"And you're not?"

He's always the one who feels it the most. Bonnie and Jeremy takes it as it comes, letting the obstacles roll off them. They're optimistic and certain another opportunity will come. But he feels differently. What if Stefan doesn't come back? What's here for him? An ex-girlfriend sired to the memory of his dead brother? An ex-friend he betrayed? There's no reason for Stefan to return. What if he never comes back and they never get another chance? What if Stefan gets to leave town and live happily ever after somewhere else?

"I want this, too," she says. Her hand is still touching him and he exhales as she rubs his back. "We'll get Stefan. Just not tonight."

"What's he doing?"

"I don't know," she says. "Looking for the cure, looking for us. I don't know. But he won't find anything about us anyway."

Lucy won't say anything and she's probably put several hundred miles between her and Stefan. There's nothing to find out. He's just off looking for a cure for Elena, doing what he's always done. They've got nothing to worry about.

"Now," Bonnie says, taking her hand away, "come back inside with me."

He only briefly considers refusing because she smiles at him and he feels that familiar sensation of something warm gripping his chest. His eyes drop to Bonnie's chest, where that necklace hangs and he reaches for it, like he did before that morning at her locker. "I think you like this thing more than I do," she says.

Tyler laughs. "No, I just like you." He lets it slip from his fingers and it falls back into perfect placement against her skin. "You look really pretty."

She looks surprised for some reason but then she smiles. "Thank you." She playfully offers him her arm. "Come on, Lockwood."

He lets her pull him back outside.

* * *

"Jeremy."

He's balancing three cups of soda in hand when Elena approaches. The line to get drinks was either longer than he thought or she got bored of dancing really quick.

"Where's Caroline?" he asks.

"She's dancing with Matt," Elena answers. "Are those for Bonnie and Tyler?" She's trying to make conversation.

Jeremy nods.

"I'm really glad you came," she says. "It's good to see you out."

Jeremy nods his head. He wants to say it's probably more impressive _she's_ out of the house since she was the one who'd locked herself inside the boarding house after Damon died but he doesn't. Instead he keeps nodding until she finds something else to say. He wants to ask her about Stefan leaving but it might look weird that Bonnie hurried to tell him so he holds his tongue. But Elena mentions it instead.

"Stefan left," she says.

He pretends it's the first he's heard of it. "For good?"

"No. It's temporary."

"Oh."

"So you're welcome back at the house anytime," she says. "I mean, he won't be coming by anymore, if that's what you're worried about. I told him not to come back at all and I think he listened and-"

"Okay," Jeremy says.

"You'll come back?"

She's so excited it almost pains him to tell her otherwise even though he told her a little over a week ago he wasn't coming back. Maybe she just thought he'd really change his mind.

"Oh...no," he says. "I was just saying okay because I understand what you're saying."

He can tell she's trying not to look too disappointed.

"I'll let you know when I'm ready to come back," he says. "Okay?"

"Okay." She looks over his shoulder. "There's Bonnie and Tyler."

Jeremy looks over his shoulder to see them making their way toward him. He smiles at Bonnie who hasn't seen him yet. She looks beautiful and he still hasn't told her. It's hard with people lingering. It's bad enough Caroline grins like a fool whenever she sees them together. If he tells her she looks stunning, they'll never hear the end of it. When Jeremy turns back to Elena, he nods down to the drinks. "I should..."

"Yeah," she says. "Save me a dance later?"

He nods and turns away. He meets Bonnie and Tyler halfway and passes them their sodas. "Feeling better?" he asks Tyler.

"Shut up, Gilbert," he answers, taking a sip of his drink.

"How long do we have to stay here?" Jeremy questions. If they're not going to be killing Stefan, what's the point in staying at this lame dance in these stupid pants surrounded by disco balls?

"An hour and a half," Bonnie answers. "At least."

She rolls her eyes when Tyler and Jeremy groan in unison.

"I have to stay with Caroline and Elena for a little while," she says. "It's not like we've got anything better to do."

_No, not anymore._

But Jeremy can think up a few other things him and Bonnie can do. Or at least a few things he can do to her, all of which he knows from experience she _really_ likes. But that can wait an hour and a half.

"I have to dance with Elena anyway," he sighs.

"I don't actually have any obligations here," Tyler says, "so I could just go."

"No, you can't," Bonnie says. "We're all in this together."

"Can we be in this together somewhere else?"

"In an hour and half."

"But after?" Jeremy says, intrigued.

Bonnie nods. "What do you guys want to do?"

"If we're not killing a certain vampire tonight," Tyler says, lowering his voice, "then we should get drunk."

* * *

Stefan's face swims over her. His eyes go black. When he bares his fangs, they're already red with blood but she doesn't shrink away. She stares at him, defiant. She can smell the blood on him, all around her and hear chanting somewhere far away. It's not a spell she's familiar with. Something lies next to her. Stefan's journal, burned up and unreadable. She reaches for it but her fingers won't move. The pages turn and Damon's name screams from all the pages and runs red with his blood.

Then she sees Katherine's body burning away and Stefan in the river with her and Jeremy as she tugs at his memory.

And Shane's voice in her ear.

_Life pays for life_.

Bonnie wakes up on the couch with Jeremy, pressed against his side. Her legs are propped up on the coffee table and one of her hands is folded up in his. He sleeps on peacefully. She glimpses the cups of alcohol she and Jeremy barely drank. They mostly kept Tyler company while he did and fell asleep somewhere along the way.

"Bonnie."

She looks to her left. Tyler's coming toward the couch with a blood bag in hand. "Did I wake you?" he asks, whispering for Jeremy's benefit.

She shakes her head, though she doesn't really know if he did or not. Her dream felt much shorter than it should have been, like it was incomplete somehow.

He narrows his eyes. "Are you okay?"

Bonnie nods her head. "Going upstairs?"

"Yeah. You guys can have the whole couch that way. I'll see you in the morning."

She watches him go up the stairs. When his footsteps fade away, she rests her head against Jeremy again and tilts her head so she can look at his face. He looks so young.

She thinks of waking him up and telling him about it but he looks so peaceful. She just wants to follow him to wherever he is. Bonnie closes her eyes and tries.

* * *

**Thanks for reading/reviewing. The next chapter will hopefully be up soon. **


	33. Taste

Taste

It's been four days and Stefan isn't back.

Despite her assertions she's let him go, Elena's worried. Tyler is, too but for very different reasons. He's sure Stefan's doing something, wherever he is, that's going to screw them over. Jeremy's just eager to get going and Bonnie's still trying to make sense of her dream. She doesn't want to go anywhere near Stefan until she knows what it means. As far as she's concerned, he can extend his trip by another few days if it means she'll be able to work through it.

"Tell me again," Shane says when she meets him in his office.

She repeats all that she remembers, which she recites easily by now. She's committed the whole thing to memory.

"You heard me talking?"

_Life pays for life. _

"Yeah."

"Was I there?"

"Not that I could see."

Shane leans back in his chair and drums his fingers on the desktop. She left out the part about Stefan, Damon and Katherine but told him about the chanting, hoping he'd be able to make sense of it. She's sure she butchered it. The few words she recalled were in Latin and even though she can say a spell, she doesn't understand the language. And when she wrote them down for Shane there were plenty of spelling errors but he promised to try and figure it out.

She hasn't told Jeremy or Tyler about her dream yet. The last time she had a dream like this one Tyler ended up without a heart and there was a dead guy on her bedroom floor, not to mention the fight her and Tyler had about her methods. It's better not to freak either of them out just yet, not unless it's necessary.

"Have you considered it may have been a run of the mill dream?" Shane asks.

"Yes," she answers, "but it wasn't."

Shane nods. "Then we'll try something else."

By something else, he means hypnosis. And she's willing. He sets up his usual tools and turns off the lights.

"Clear your mind. Think only of what you saw."

Bonnie inhales like he taught her. He's always going on and on about her breath and using it to calm herself. Yadda yadda.

"Try to go back," he adds, "and see more of it. Let your mind fill in the blanks.

She finds herself staring at Stefan again. Blood drips from his fangs. This is the Ripper. And it's not the guilt stricken one either, who likes to put his victims back together. No, this one is the Ripper in the middle of his art, when all he sees, smells, and believes in is the blood. The desperate and manic remorse of the jigsaw puzzle will wait until later.

And there's April Young lying among the trees with a bloody wound on her neck. A bite mark. Her hair hangs long and curly past her shoulders. She looks like a child even though she's dressed in a pretty green dress and heels. She was obviously going somewhere. But for some reason, she didn't make it. She's pale, deathly pale, and the moon cuts through the trees to illuminate her white legs, streaked with dirt and mud. She walked out there on her own. Or was led.

Straight to her death.

"Well?" Shane says when she opens her eyes.

"It was still...weird," she says. "I didn't hear any chanting." And there was no journal, no Damon, no Katherine, and no repeats of Stefan in the river.

But at least she knows who the blood on Stefan's teeth belongs to.

* * *

Tyler's been tasked with picking up dinner from the Grill. It's mostly empty when he arrives but he sees Caroline at a table in the corner and waves when she looks up but doesn't go over. They've had enough awkward moments and they don't need to add to the count. Tyler sits at the bar and waits for someone, who hopefully won't be Matt, to bring him his carry out order.

"Tyler."

It's been awhile since he's heard that accent but the rage it elicits from him rises just as it always has.

"Klaus," he sighs as the Original takes a seat on the bar stool next to him. "What do you want?"

"I'm just saying hello to a friend. The last time we spoke I didn't offer my condolences."

Tyler doesn't respond. Maybe if he's quiet, Klaus will just go away.

"Of course I'm referring to your breakup with the lovely Caroline."

Tyler forces himself not to look in the _lovely_ Caroline's direction. She may be listening but he's not going to give Klaus any kind of satisfaction.

"It was so sudden," Klaus goes on, "and quite surprising. I was always under the impression you two were _forever."_

"You don't have anything better to do right now?" Tyler says. Doesn't he have siblings to dagger? A cure to find? Someone else to bother?

"I'm enjoying our conversation," Klaus says, cocking his head to the side and pretending to be affronted. "You're not?"

"I'm not," he confirms. "I'm sure that's not too much of a surprise."

Tyler's phone beeps and he reaches for it but Klaus snatches it up first. "Bonnie is on her way back," he reads. "Also, she doesn't want you to forget the extra napkins which you apparently _always_ do." With a smirk, Klaus passes Tyler's phone to him and he takes it away to stuff it into his jacket pocket.

"I admit, I've been curious," Klaus says, "if yours and Caroline's sudden separation had anything to do with your new living arrangement. Particularly the young lady to whom the house belongs."

Tyler inhales deeply and tries even harder not to look at Caroline. "What happened between me and Caroline had everything to do with me and Caroline and nothing to do with Bonnie or me staying with her. Leave me alone, Klaus."

He sees Matt approaching out of the corner of his eye, with a large paper bag that he passes over. Tyler moves to stand but Klaus speaks. "He'll need extra napkins, Matt," he says. "See? You almost forgot them again."

Matt looks confused as he drops a wad of napkins into the bag. When he turns away, Klaus keeps going. "You've always been very attracted to young women who show _concern_ for you, isn't that right? If I'm not mistaken that's how you and Caroline got your start. You deny anything happened with you and Hayley - bless her poor, _dead_ heart - but she was a comfort to you, was she not, during your breaking of the sire bond? And now you have Bonnie."

Tyler tightens his grip on the bag.

_Stop talking_.

"She's very beautiful," Klaus adds. "Even I can see that."

_Stop talking_.

"I've had many witches in my time. I see the appeal. And you must see it far more clearly than I. She saved your life, took you into her home," Klaus says. He laughs. "Perhaps into her bed."

_Stop_.

Tyler feels himself shaking his head and he's grinding his teeth together so hard it hurts. He doesn't know where Caroline is. He still won't look but he hopes by some weird twist of fate she isn't listening to them, that something has distracted her.

Klaus isn't getting any of his mental messages.

"I'm most interested in how Jeremy factors in," he continues. "Is it a secret? Does he know? Is this some kind of threesome? Do you take turns? I'm _genuinely _curious."

Tyler's phone beeps.

"Is that Miss Bennett now?" Klaus asks.

Tyler refuses to look at it but Klaus grips Tyler's wrist and squeezes until Tyler raises his gaze to his.

"_Look,_" he says. The compulsion takes hold and Tyler withdraws his phone. _"Read it to me._"

"I'm picking up ice cream for dessert. Cookie dough for you. And a smiley face."

Bonnie's words are benign. Thank God it wasn't anything sinister. Nothing about Stefan. And no declarations of love. No flirtation. Or maybe there is some. He doubts it. Bonnie saves all her flirting for Jeremy. Jeremy, she flirts with. Jeremy, she likes. Loves. Tyler is just her friend. And it's just ice cream.

It shouldn't bother him like it does.

"How sweet," Klaus comments. "Tell me. What does she taste like?"

_We'll kill him soon. _

"Her lips?"

_We'll kill him soon._

"Her tongue?"

_Soon. _

"Her blood?"

Klaus had to see the punch coming but he didn't try to move. His nose cracks underneath Tyler's fist and he falls off his stool and onto the floor. It's only when Tyler follows him, drawing back his fist for another blow, he realizes Klaus is smiling. Blood is on his teeth and dripping but the Original is grinning.

This is exactly what he wanted. To make him angry, for Caroline to overhear. For Caroline to know it made Tyler angry.

He can't wait to kill Klaus.

Caroline pulls them apart, her fingers digging into Tyler's shoulders as she puts herself between them. "Tyler, don't," she says. He knows that face. Her I'm-scared-for-you face. Klaus could kill him and has done so before and here's Tyler, fighting him in the middle of the Grill and Klaus is just standing there, with a bloody smile and a satisfied gleam in his eye.

Tyler shakes her off and snatches the food. The few people inside are are all staring at him as he leaves. He hears Caroline behind him, her voice as much of a snarl as is possible from her, locked and loaded with venom directed at Klaus. "Stay away from him," she says.

Tyler's in the parking lot when she catches up.

"Tyler?"

"I don't want to talk, Caroline," he sighs, unlocking his doors. "I'm going home.

"You're going back to Bonnie's."

_Same thing_, he almost says. Instead he says, "What's that supposed to mean?"

Caroline opens her mouth but no words come out.

Does she want him to deny it? To tell her Klaus is just being himself and stirring up trouble? That even now that they're broken up, Klaus still wants to drive a wedge? Is that what she wants to hear? Not that Tyler's having a clandestine relationship with her best friend? She can't honestly think they'd do that and lie to her face about it. Then again, they've been lying about plenty of things.

But he doubts the truth would be any more well received. No, he's not having sex with Bonnie and he doesn't have threesomes with her and Jeremy either. He does however think about Bonnie more than he should, and he looks at her closer than he should. He's as familiar with Bonnie's face, her small smiles and her green, green eyes as he is with his own features. He wishes she touched him more, without the intent of comforting him. He likes that, too but he wants her to touch him just to touch him, because she wants to feel him. Because he wants to feel _her_. He wants to hug her and hold her the way he sees Jeremy do it. And he wants to leave this town on some extended trip just for the excuse of hugging Bonnie for a long, long time.

And he wasn't aware of this until right now. While his heart is still pounding and the image of Klaus' bloody mouth is fresh in his mind, and Caroline is looking at him and expecting something he doesn't know how to give.

"I'll see you around."

"Tyler-"

But he's already in the car and pulling off the lot.

* * *

When Bonnie gets back, Jeremy's already eating. Tyler went upstairs as soon as he came back, saying he was suddenly tired but not elaborating on what managed to exhaust him in the half hour he was gone.

"I have to tell you something," Bonnie says, sitting down across from him. His gaze lingers a bit too long on the sloping neckline of her shirt, where her necklace dips between her breasts. He hurries to look at her eyes. "I had a dream."

"A dream?"

She explains, talking fast while cutting up her food.

"You think Stefan's going to _bite_ April? Why would he do that?"

"Who knows?"

Stefan's unpredictable and Ripper Stefan is even more of a wildcard. He could be doing anything wherever he is right now. For all they know, he could be searching for the cure and biting a girl a night. Jeremy groans. Bonnie's dreams have never been wrong before. If it showed her April, bitten by Stefan, than April _will_ be bitten by Stefan.

There doesn't have to be a good reason.

It's just a matter of when and stopping it before it gets that far.

"The best way is to take Stefan out as soon as possible," Bonnie says, "before he gets the chance to hurt her."

"So we make sure we find out exactly when he's back in town," Jeremy says. It feels like Stefan's been gone for a long time, even though had rarely seen him when he was here. It's strange, to have a town truly empty to Salvatores, if only temporarily. At least until they make it permanent. "And we do it then?"

"Yes," she says. "The sooner the better. Until then we keep an eye on April. We can get her on vervain."

"She's already on vervain," Jeremy says. "I gave her my bracelet. It was awhile ago but I think she still wears it."

At least Stefan won't be able to compel her. And maybe it'll make him think twice about draining her.

He helps Bonnie clean up downstairs. When they're done, she takes his hand and pulls him up to her room. They've reached a point where neither of them even has to ask, a squeeze of a hand there or a raised eyebrow here and they go to her room. Tonight she's on top, straddling his waist. Her fingers slide across his chest as she leans to kiss him. It doesn't matter where she touches him, he always feels it in his gut, a wrenching excitement, wrapped around anticipation and twined with joy. And it never stops. He's in a constant state of wanting her and being thankful when she gives herself.

Jeremy vaguely hears footsteps in the hallway then the front door slamming as Bonnie's tongue draws a path along his neck.

* * *

At school the next morning, Tyler avoids all of them. Everyone. He left the house early and drove himself and sat in the library until homeroom. He doesn't want to run into Caroline. Last night he barely spoke to Jeremy and didn't see Bonnie at all, too busy thinking about what Klaus said, what Caroline saw and heard, and what he's now painfully, painfully aware of. He can't even look at Bonnie without hearing Klaus' voice.

_What does she taste like_?

Tt kills him how badly he wants to know the answer.

And it killed him that he wanted to leave when he heard her and Jeremy last night. And it killed him when he _did_ leave to sit in his car with music playing.

English class is long. Very, very long. Caroline doesn't look at him when she comes in. He'd like to know what she's thinking after yesterday. Maybe she thinks something's going on but it's easy enough to prove there isn't. After all, Caroline knows just as well as Tyler that Bonnie's doing whatever it is she's doing with Jeremy. Still, she might ask and Tyler tries to think of an explanation but comes up blank. How does he explain away what he's feeling?

He's starting to fall asleep again when he hears Bonnie in his head.

_Football field?_

He doesn't hesitate. _Okay_. Then he remembers he's supposed to be avoiding her.

As he goes out the classroom door, he doesn't look at Caroline. He should probably tell Bonnie they should meet elsewhere, where Caroline won't be able to see them, just in case. If she did see them the other day, it's probably taken on a whole new meaning with Klaus' words.

Bonnie's sitting on the ground when Tyler gets out there, her legs folded underneath her and hair stirred by the wind. It lifts it off her shoulders just slightly. "You made it," she says.

"You called."

She stands. When she puts her arms around his neck, he doesn't understand. She's looking him right in the eye, with those perfect green eyes of hers. And he still doesn't understand when she presses her lips to his. He didn't realize he had expectations about Bonnie's kissing ability until she surpasses them. His arms slide easily around her, circling her waist and pressing her closer against him as her tongue skates across his lips, requesting entry.

He gives it to her. He'll give her anything she wants.

Bonnie's fingers rake through his hair and grip handfuls to pull his mouth down harder on hers. Her tongue brushes against his and he hums against her lips. When she pulls away, he leans in further, looking for her lips again but she turns her head and he catches her neck instead. He doesn't mind, doesn't care. She laughs softly and her hands slide around to his chest, pushing him back slightly but winding around the front of his shirt. Her hands are so small. He covers them with his own.

"What do I taste like?" she asks.

He kisses her again, just to be sure before he answers.

"Magic," he says. His lips burn with it. "And cookie dough ice cream."

Bonnie's smile makes his chest hurt.

A hand is on his shoulder and he turns his head.

Caroline with wide eyes. Looking back and forth from him and Bonnie. She looks confused at first, like she doesn't know how she got there. Or what she's seeing. She lets out a breath and he can see her lower lip tremble. Bonnie's arms are still wrapped around his neck and he can still taste her on his mouth, as if she's real. The only real things there are him and Caroline. And Caroline's sad eyes.

When Tyler wakes up, she's standing next to him, one hand resting on his shoulder. She yanks it away and cradles it near her chest. "I just wanted to wake you," she says. "I didn't mean...I'm sorry." Her voice cracks.

_Fuck._

"I"m sorry," she repeats.

No, he's sorry.

"Caroline," he begins. "It wasn't-" _what it looked like. _ But she turns and goes out the door.

Welcome to Mystic Falls, where it is exactly what it looks like.

* * *

"Caroline!" Bonnie can see her blond head bobbing through the hallway and she hurries to catch up. Caroline pauses so she can reach her.

"Hi."

"Grill later? You, me and Elena?" She plans on inviting April, too but only if Elena and Caroline will be there. April's more likely to come if they're in attendance. And Bonnie needs an excuse to drop some protective trinkets into April's backpack.

"I can't," Caroline says. "I have to do some reading."

She sounds different somehow and when Bonnie looks closer at her face, she thinks Caroline might have been crying. Her eyes look a little red. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing," Caroline answers. She's always been a questionable liar. She's improved recently but she's still not very good and Bonnie sees right through her. Something's wrong.

"Caroline," Bonnie says, taking her hand, "what happened? Was it something with Tyler?"

It has to be something with Tyler. Bonnie hasn't seen him all day but she remembers Caroline wanting so badly for him to compliment her at the dance. Weeks later and Caroline's still carrying a torch. It could be even the slightest thing. Bonnie knows they have at least one class together. Maybe something happened there.

Caroline pulls her hand from Bonnie's and holds the strap of her bag instead. "I'm fine," she insists. "I'll see you at lunch."

But when lunch arrives, Caroline barely talks and scarcely looks in Bonnie's direction. She spends a lot of time on her salad, pushing it around the plate with her mouth twisted into a frown.

"Is something wrong?" Elena asks finally.

Bonnie wasn't going to ask since Caroline was so against talking about it earlier but now that Elena has, she looks to Caroline hopefully.

"I'm fine," Caroline sighs. "I'm just having a bad day."

Elena looks to Bonnie, like she's seeking encouragement to dig deeper. Bonnie nods her her head and Elena goes on. "Is this about Tyler?"

Caroline drops her fork. "I don't want to talk about it." She doesn't say a word for awhile. Then, "I don't feel well. I'm gonna go home."

Bonnie and Elena barely get the chance to speak before Caroline's gathered up all her things and disappeared.

"That was weird," Elena says. "Has Tyler said anything?"

"I haven't seen him today."

That's weird, too.

By now she should have seen Tyler a few times. They've worked out the bugs of the morning rush They run into each other on the way to the bathroom and he always lets her go first. She lets him go in while she's brushing her teeth in the the hallway. Jeremy always wakes up late but he gets ready the quickest and gets the bathroom to himself for a little while at least. They all end up in the bathroom at the same time trying to perfect their appearances before they go. Before homeroom Tyler hangs out by her locker. He lingers for a little while and leaves just before Caroline's usual arrival time. He's got it down to a science. And she sees him in the halls at least twice a day and shoots him a little message. He always answers with a secret smile and more recently, a thought.

But she hasn't seen him once.

Bonnie looks around the cafeteria. The football team is at their usual spot but she doesn't see Tyler. She looks at the guys facing away from her but doesn't see the familiar line of Tyler's shoulders. He's not there. She searches the building with her magic and it scopes him out, reaching for him. He's out on the football field. For a moment she considers asking him what he's doing out there by himself but he's lying on his back in the grass, staring up at the sky.

Something is bothering him. Now she's certain something happened with Caroline.

But she thinks she'll have even less luck getting details from Tyler.

And she's right. When she finds him at his locker after school, he mutters something about having to talk to one of his teachers and leaves her before she can ask what happened.

* * *

**I feel like the show forgets some of the powers they've given vampires, like the dream manipulation which we haven't seen since S2, if I'm correct. And we never saw the shapeshifting, fog creating whatever mess Damon did in S1, ever again either. You'd think some of these things would come in handy over the course of seasons 3 and 4.**

**Tyler has realized his little (big) crush - for lack of a better word. Now it's just matter of what he plans on doing about it. And also, what Caroline has to say (or not say) about it. This was never going to be an easy Tonnie story (the obstacles of Jeremy and Caroline are pretty substantial) and it was never gonna be quick. I know some of you are getting impatient but stick with me a while longer. **

**As always thanks for reading and reviewing!**


	34. Couples

Couples

Elena's on April duty. Not that she knows it, but she's on it. With Stefan gone and Jeremy out of the house, Elena needs a project and she's made it April, with some gentle nudging from Bonnie. She tells Elena April could use a friend considering the turn her life's taken recently. It's unlikely Stefan will be able to rip her throat out with Elena standing by. When Bonnie suggests they include April in some more of their things, Elena questions it only momentarily before inviting April over for a study party which is less studying and more sitting around watching movies.

Meanwhile, Bonnie tries and fails again and again at contacting Tyler. Jeremy's having the same problem. He went home right after school but he texted Bonnie to let her know Tyler wasn't there.

"April's going to stay the night," Elena says when they've finished up their second movie. "You want in?"

"I can't," Bonnie says. "I have stuff to do but I wish I could. Did you ask Caroline?"

"She's not up for it," Elena says. "She still won't say what happened either."

"I'll try talking to Tyler tonight," Bonnie sighs.

Elena folds her arms. "It's nice having someone else in the house. Jeremy still doesn't want to come back."

Bonnie can't tell if she's supposed to say something to that. Something like she'll talk to Jeremy and try to convince him to go home. If Elena expects it, she's going to be disappointed. "He'll come back when he's ready," she says. "I have to go. Have fun."

When she gets home, Tyler's still not back when though it's dark out by now. She's beginning to think the worst.

"He's fine," Jeremy says, when she comes through the door. "I talked to him earlier. He's just moping around, figuring out the meaning of life and all that."

"Did he mention anything about Caroline?"

Jeremy shakes his head. "Why?"

"I think something happened but neither one of them will say what."

He shrugs his shoulders. "I'll ask him when he gets back."

Well Tyler would probably be more willing to share with Jeremy instead of Bonnie anyway. Talking about Caroline with her may stretch to new levels of awkward. She sits down next to him on the sofa. "April still alive?" he asks.

"For now," Bonnie says. "And as long as Stefan's gone. She's staying with Elena tonight."

"Well there we go. Now we're off duty." Jeremy looks at her and wiggles his eyebrows suggestively. "And the house is totally empty."

"Tyler could be home at any minute," she reminds him but she steps toward him anyway and lets him touch her waist, the tips of his fingers sliding beneath her shirt.

"I can put a rubberband on the door or something," he says, pushing up her shirt to expose her stomach where he drops a kiss right above her belly button. "He'll know what it means." His tongue flicks across her skin and she hums.

They're going in a direction she doesn't really understand. They just had sex yesterday. Less than 24 hours ago. This is a giant switch from their former relationship. Is she going through some kind of phase? Shouldn't she be sick of it by now? Or at least too tired to do anything? They're supposed to be worrying about Stefan and April, not having sex in her living room. But she likes having sex with Jeremy, loves it actually and he obviously enjoys himself. But she doesn't know if it's becoming more than that. If she just wants to be close to him somehow, somehow that doesn't translate to him becoming her boyfriend again.

Jeremy's fingers work at the button of her jeans and when he gets them undone she smiles, aware of the tingling between her legs and the dampness forming. She closes her eyes when he stands. He puts one hand around the back of her neck and brushes his lips across hers. When his other hand slides into her jeans, easing into her underwear and into _her_ she sighs against his mouth.

He kisses her the whole time. One hand tangles in her hair while the other works inside her and his lips are another matter. He swallows her whispered gasps and murmured words, his tongue brushing hers. She twines her arms around his neck and runs her fingers through his hair. She thinks her knees may buckle at any moment and he must think so, too because his hand goes from her neck to her waist and he holds her in place. She comes with her forehead resting against his chest and sighs when his fingers leave her.

"Jeremy," she breathes as he pushes her jeans down her legs. She steps out of them as his fingers find her underwear again, pushing those down, too. His hands are warm on her waist as he gently pushes her onto the sofa and when he pushes her knees apart she exhales. "Jeremy," she repeats.

"Bonnie." He's teasing her with that voice of his.

"Do you have-"

He shakes his head. "We don't need one. Not yet." He drops to his knees.

* * *

The Grill is dead in the afternoons. The crowd picks up a little after school lets out but today even that's just a trickle and it's no one Tyler knows so he doesn't budge from his booth in the corner. He sits there for hours, doing some homework and responding to Bonnie's and Jeremy's texts with explanations for his prolonged absence. Typing them out to Bonnie is the hardest so he never gets around to sending any back to her. His fingers linger on the keys, wondering what may happen if he told her the truth. _Don't freak out but I'm avoiding you because I like you and I don't know what to do about it. Also, Caroline knows and so does Klaus. And I think I have to leave because I can't take hearing you and Gilbert having sex and wishing it was me up there with you instead_.

The thought surprises him.

Of course Bonnie's beautiful but until today he hadn't thought about kissing her much less having sex with her.

But now he's thinking about it. The way she would feel, the way her hands would land on him and travel the length of his body, the sounds she'd make, the way she'd sigh his name.

He should really stop.

Matt's appearance helps with that.

"What was going on with you and Klaus yesterday?"

Tyler sighs and looks at Matt pointedly. "Why are you so interested?" he asks. He's taking it out on Matt, which he knows isn't fair. It's not Matt's fault Klaus realized Tyler had a thing for Bonnie before Tyler did and it's not his fault Bonnie has a thing for Jeremy. But he doesn't mind the venom creeping into his tone and he doesn't feel guilty when Matt looks taken aback. Maybe this isn't a good reason to snap at him but it's as good a reason as Tyler needs at the moment. Besides, Matt's long overdue in Tyler's opinion.

"I didn't ask yesterday because I didn't want to get in your business-"

"Well don't start now," Tyler snaps.

Matt swallows down some kind of retort and sits down across from him. Back when they were still friends, Matt would either shrug it off or come back with something. Apparently he's working with the first option today. If Tyler had somewhere to go, he'd leave. But because his current home is probably being used as a love den, there's nowhere to go. He could go back to his house but it seems so permanent and he thinks of how empty it is now.

"I'm asking because Caroline seemed upset," Matt says. "And Elena said she was really out of it today. And she had no idea what happened here yesterday until I told her." Well that means Bonnie will find out soon, too. But unless Caroline tells her what she overheard, at least some of the circumstances will remain secret. "So, what happened?"

Tyler doesn't answer.

"We can talk, you know," Matt says. "If you want."

"I don't want. Get back to work, Matt. You've got bills to pay."

Matt sighs heavily and shrugs his shoulders in a "I tried" kind of way.

Tyler sits there a while longer, trying to figure out where to go from here. He could go back to Bonnie's. And even though a part of him is dreading the possibility of hearing her and Jeremy having sex again, he doesn't know if he wants to leave for good either.

He thinks he'll miss it, waking up to Bonnie and Jeremy and practically climbing over each other in their fight for the bathroom in the mornings, slumming in the living room during the evenings. And he'll miss Bonnie. He'll miss her _a lot_. And he doesn't know how he'd explain wanting to leave, after she assured him he was welcome, not without making her feel bad about her and Jeremy and the last thing he wants to do is make Bonnie feel bad about anything.

While he's brainstorming ways to explain his sudden departure - and going back and forth on the actual departure part - someone comes to stand next to his table. His first thought is that it's Matt again but the someone slides into the seat across from him.

Caroline.

She shrugs off her jacket and rests her hands on top of the table. "I want to talk."

* * *

Bonnie's fingers are getting well acquainted with Jeremy's scalp. She tugs at his hair from time to time, when his tongue goes to just the right spot. He hums in amusement every time and she can feel him smiling against her, but he never smiles long because he's right back to business. She considers that Tyler may come back soon and she keeps checking to make sure the spell she's placed on the front door is holding. Eventually she gets too distracted to do anything but fist Jeremy's hair and she just hopes it lasts.

Because she's not.

When she comes for a second time, she releases Jeremy's hair and slumps onto the couch. He comes up to sit beside her and plants a kiss on her lips. She only gets a barely there taste of herself. Then he grabs her jeans and underwear to pass to her.

Does he think they're _done?_

She rolls her eyes, drops her clothes back onto the floor, and looks at him.

"We'll need that condom."

* * *

"How long?" Caroline asks.

He's more uncomfortable than he's ever been with her before but he straightens up in his seat and looks at her. She changed clothes after school, into a dress and boots. Did she want to look nice for when she came to confront him? Did she want to look her best when he explained why he was dreaming of kissing Bonnie during class and why Klaus seems to think Tyler knows what Bonnie_ tastes _like. "How long what?"

"How long have you been doing whatever it is you're doing with Bonnie?"

_Plotting to kill Damon and Stefan? A couple months now_. _Dreaming about kissing her is a more recent development._

Welcome to Mystic Falls, where it's hard to tell which information Caroline would take worse.

"I'm not _doing_ anything with Bonnie," he says instead. Before she can say anything else, he adds, "What you saw earlier was...it was just a dream. It didn't mean anything and nothing like that has _ever_ happened with me and Bonnie. And all that stuff Klaus said was bullshit."

"You're staying at her house," Caroline says. "Still."

Well, he may be leaving now. But he doubts Caroline will be pleased with the reasoning behind that decision.

Tyler sighs. "Caroline-"

"I saw you on the football field the other day," she says. He can't help looking down at the table then, remembering the way he'd held Bonnie's hand, staring at her in awe and fascination and then wiping blood away from her face. Then he remembers his dream more vividly than before, Bonnie's perfect mouth and perfect tongue and perfect lips, on his and her hands in his hair. Magic and cookie dough ice cream and her smile. "And I didn't think - I thought...I didn't think it was like this."

"I _promise_ nothing has ever happened like that between me and Bonnie," he insists. "We were just-"

She cuts him off. "But you want it to. Right? You _want_ Bonnie."

Tyler swallows and forces himself to hold her gaze. He won't lie. After everything, he owes her the truth at least. And it is true. He wants Bonnie, in the way Jeremy has her. He wants to be able to hold her hand without it being weird, have it be expected even. He wants to kiss her and hold her and share her bed with her. And in an alternate universe, that may be possible. "Yes."

A shadow flickers across her face and she drops her gaze to the tabletop. For a long time she's quiet. When she looks at him, he knows she's trying not to cry.

"But I'm not," he says, "pursuing it."

"Why not?" she asks, her stare suddenly hard. "Why aren't you?"

He realizes it might have been dumb to assume him not going after Bonnie would be a good thing to Caroline.

"Because Jeremy. Because..._you_. I don't-"

"But if me and Jeremy weren't here..."

Tyler shakes his head. He's not falling into that one. Caroline and Jeremy _are_ here. What's the point in considering the what-ifs? "Caroline, I'm not doing anything with Bonnie. I'm not _going_ to do anything with Bonnie. She's my friend. That's all."

"That's the thing, Tyler," Caroline says. "You don't want her to be your _friend__. _You want her to be...I don't know." He thinks she may have a few ideas but she feels uncomfortable voicing them at the moment. He's glad she doesn't because he doesn't want to voice them either because he doesn't know what they are. Does he want Bonnie to be his girlfriend? A shoulder to cry on? A warm body in the night? Someone to talk to? He doesn't know where Bonnie fits exactly but he knows she fits somewhere. He just wants _her, _every part of her.

He also just really wants to kiss her. Just to see if magic and cookie dough ice cream is an actual thing someone can taste like.

"I don't know why this is happening now," he says. "I couldn't have picked..." _A better or a worse person to fall for._

Bonnie, who jumped in headfirst into this killing Damon and Stefan plan. Bonnie, who killed a man to save him. Bonnie, who hugged him even after he'd been carrying around the corpses of hybrids. Bonnie, who is strong and kind and makes bad jokes sometimes. Bonnie, who is best friends with Caroline and the love of Jeremy's life. Bonnie, who is completely unattainable. And even if she was, even if by some strange twist of fate she felt the same way about him, she would never hurt Caroline like that. And neither would he. And imagining Jeremy's reaction to this hurts Tyler more than he expects.

He remembers a time when he and Jeremy liked another girl, at the same time. Vicki was forever ago it seems, another casualty of the Salvatores. But he can remember her kissing him, her liking him despite everything he did and was. And liking Jeremy, too. Jeremy was the better one then. It was good she picked Jeremy. But in the end, who she picked didn't matter. And he and Jeremy became friends despite that, despite fist fights and arguing and Vicki dying.

And now there's Bonnie.

But he can't imagine fighting Jeremy for her. And he certainly can't imagine winning. Bonnie is in love with Jeremy, no matter what either of them says. So they don't want to make it official because of the thing with Ghost Girl but Jeremy loves her and as soon as Bonnie accepts it, she'll make sure he knows she loves him back.

And Tyler will just be sitting in her dad's bedroom, listening.

* * *

It's a good thing Tyler's out. Jeremy makes a mental note to thank him for choosing today of all days to go find himself or whatever he's doing. If Tyler was there he wouldn't be on the couch with Bonnie right now, his arms locked around her waist. He wouldn't be staring up at her face as she moves over him, both of their bodies damp with sweat, and Bonnie's hair falling down to create a curtain around both of their faces. He wouldn't be hearing her gentle, contented sighs and her whispers of his name in her ear, or feeling her nails as they scrape across his chest. Bonnie's teeth wouldn't tug on his earlobe and his breath wouldn't hitch at the sensation.

And he wouldn't be coming right now either.

Thank God Tyler's not there.

* * *

"I get it," Caroline says. Judging by her tone, she doesn't get it at all. "Bonnie's beautiful and she's smart and really funny sometimes. She's just _Bonnie__. _What's not to like?"

Nothing. There's nothing he doesn't like.

When Tyler realizes he's smiling a little, he hurries to hide it. He hopes Caroline didn't notice.

"She's my best friend," she says. She looks down at her hands and lets out a shaky sigh.

"I'm sorry," he says. He doesn't know what else to say.

"Is that why you broke you up with me?"

Tyler shakes his head. "I didn't feel this way then." But maybe it was the beginning, when he woke up with Bonnie hovering over him, holding back tears. But as far as Caroline knows, his relationship with Bonnie was almost nonexistent back then. Does she think he's been harboring this secret desire for Bonnie this whole time? "Everything I told you was true. I didn't break up with you because of Bonnie."

Caroline nods her head. Maybe she doesn't believe him.

"She doesn't even know," he says. "It's not her fault."

"I know that, Tyler," Caroline snaps. "Excuse me for not being over the moon about my ex-boyfriend having _feelings_ for my best friend!" Her voice raises just enough that people glance over and she quiets down right away.

"I'm sorry," he repeats.

She doesn't say anything else before getting up and leaving.

Tyler doesn't turn around to watch her go but he sees Matt at the bar and he's staring directly at Tyler.

* * *

Bonnie insists they go up to her room when they're finished and she lays on her bed with her arms over her head and her chest rising and falling gently. She extends a hand to Jeremy, who lingers at the door and he steps toward her to take it. He lets her pull him down onto the mattress and smiles to himself as she rests her head on his bare chest.

"That was fun," she says. Her hair tickles his chest.

Everything's fun with Bonnie but he agrees. She runs her fingertips up and down his chest and he lets his eyes drift closed.

He's surprised when she kisses him.

Lately, they don't kiss just for the sake of kissing. It has to be going somewhere and somewhere has to be sex. But he doesn't think she wants to go again. She's just kissing him. He returns the gesture eagerly.

* * *

Tyler goes back to Bonnie's. He doesn't know where Jeremy is and he can't hear him in the house but Bonnie's in the living room. She's in a pair of very short shorts and a hoodie, her legs folded while she watches a black-and-white movie. He's proud of himself for not staring.

"Hey, stranger," she says a grin that looks so much like the one in his dream, he almost believes she wants him to kiss her. "Come over here."

He joins her on the couch and realizes she's eating ice cream. He knows without looking what flavor it is. It's confirmed when she holds out the bowl, spoon and all. "You can have a bite."

_What do I taste like?_

_Magic. And cookie dough ice cream._

He shouldn't want to eat it so bad.

When he takes a bite, he keeps it modest and she looks at him in confusion. "Not hungry?"

_Not for ice cream_. "Not really," he says. "Thanks though."

Bonnie takes the ice cream back and shrugs. "More for me then. Where've you been? It's been a whole day since I last saw. Something happen with Caroline?"

Tyler shakes his head. "It was just a misunderstanding. We're fine now." They're not and he's sure Bonnie will pick up on that immediately. If Caroline is even talking to her. She said she wouldn't take it out on Bonnie but Caroline's got a mean streak. He wants to warn Bonnie somehow but he doesn't know how to explain it without explaining everything and he can't do that.

"What about Klaus?" Bonnie says.

Tyler lets out a breath. So Elena did call her. He thought it might take a little bit longer for that particular news to travel.

"Tyler?" she says. He's been quiet for too long and Bonnie's looking at him expectantly. He should think of something to say.

"It was nothing," he lies. "Just Klaus being Klaus."

"You _hit_ him," she says gently. "What did he say?"

If it had been anything else, anything else Klaus had chosen to pick at, Tyler would have told her without much thought. She's Bonnie, his friend. He can tell her anything.

"Stuff about the pack," he lies. "My mom. Just typical stuff."

But he really hopes Klaus stays far, far away from Bonnie.

"Where's Jeremy?" he asks.

"He had a craving,"she explains," for a grilled cheese from the Grill."

"Oh. Well, I was thinking I should go home. For real this time."

Bonnie puts down the ice cream and turns off the television. "I told you you're not in the way," she says, "if that's what this is about."

He might have had a decent explanation but Bonnie keeps talking and whatever it was floats away.

"I won't beg you to stay. I mean, I know it's not as nice as your place," she says. "It's kinda small. And you're not sleeping in your own bed so I get it. It kinda sucks."

"It doesn't suck," he assures her. "I love it here." _  
_

Bonnie smiles down at her hands. A piece of her hair is hanging down by her cheek. It would be so easy to push it behind it her ear.**  
**

"Forget it," he says, still looking at that loose strand. "I'm staying."

She looks confused and he's confused, too.

"You are?" she says.

Tyler nods. "Yeah. I don't know what I was talking about."

Twice he's been certain he was going to leave this house and this time he had a more valid, more important excuse than the last time. But she's smiling at him and eating cookie dough ice cream and he remembers the way Dream Bonnie kissed him and he'd give anything to have that reality be possible. And he doesn't want to leave her.

He's some kind of masochist.

Bonnie turns the television back on and grabs up her ice cream again. "Okay," she says. She looks so pleased with herself, and with him, that for a moment he forgets why he wanted to leave in the first place. Then Tyler is suddenly aware of the couch smelling like sex.

* * *

**Tyler's life has gotten a lot more complicated than it was a while ago. **

**Thanks for reading/reviewing! **


	35. Conflict of Interest

**I know I'm updating a bit later than usual but school/work is picking up. That being said, if it comes down to once a week updates, I hope that'll be okay with you guys. Once this week passes I think I'll be back on track but if not, expect them at least once a week. As always thanks for reading/reviewing. If any of you like Matt, he shows up in this one. **

**There may be a couple of typos in here. I was in a hurry to update tonight but I'll go through and fix any tomorrow. :D**

* * *

Conflict of Interest

Tyler would like to go upstairs and try to sleep, if only to escape the scent of the sex Bonnie and Jeremy had while he was gone. But Bonnie keeps him there, telling him something about April Young.

Apparently they have to protect her or something.

She keeps going, telling him about a dream she had.

"Okay," he says hurriedly. He puts a lot of stock in Bonnie's dreams, seeing as how one of them kept him alive but he still can't focus. He can smell them, can hear them. He stands up. "I'll keep an eye out. 'Night."

Bonnie looks confused as he goes but she doesn't ask him what's wrong. In bed, Tyler can hear her and Jeremy downstairs. They're not kissing or anything, just talking and not even about anything significant, just the movie she's watching. He hears Jeremy sit down, probably next to her. If Jeremy really wanted to, he could lean over and kiss her. He's allowed to do that. He's allowed to move a hand through Bonnie's hair, drag a finger along the column of her neck and follow with his mouth.

Tyler is not.

"I have to get something of April's," Bonnie's saying. "It has to be something she keeps on her all the time."

"Why?" Jeremy asks.

"So I can put a protection spell on it," Bonnie explains.

"Like you did with Tyler?"

"No, Tyler's was different," Bonnie says.

His brain locks onto that, his name in her mouth. He shifts against the pillows and folds his hands on his chest. On the ceiling, he can see Bonnie's face and her eyes and her smile. And he hears her saying his name. Again and again and again.

"With April it's going to be more...It's hard to explain," Bonnie sighs. "If I get something that's more personal, it'll work better."

There's a pause and then Jeremy says, "You want me to get it?"

"She likes you."

Jeremy laughs in his throat. "I'll see what I can do. I'll try to get it to you tomorrow."

It takes Tyler a moment to realize he's touching the bracelet Bonnie gave him, the one he still hasn't taken off. If there was ever a chance he might, it passed the moment he realized how precious it was. Bonnie gave it to him, spelled it, saved his life with it. He _can't_ take it off and he doesn't want to. He's running his fingers along the shells when Bonnie comes upstairs. He doesn't breathe until her door closes with a deafening click.

He can't trace it, this change, the moment Bonnie stopped being Bonnie and became _Bonnie._

Welcome to Mystic Falls where now that it's happened, nothing will change it.

* * *

Bonnie wakes up early in the morning, not with any kind of purpose, but she opens her eyes and her room is filled with sunlight. Her gaze lingers on the potted plant on the sill. The house is silent.

She senses Jeremy downstairs, lost to the world.

Tyler, on the other hand, is awake.

She goes to her dad's room and knocks on the door. Tyler answers with a call for her to come in.

"Hi," she says. He's perched on the edge of the bed, shirtless and facing the window.

He grabs for his shirt when she comes in and she rolls her eyes. "You've never tried to hide anything before."

"I'm not hiding, Bennett. I'm just cold," Tyler says, pulling his shirt on over his head.

"Warming up?"

"Yes, thank you."

Bonnie folds her hands in her lap and looks at him. "You're acting weird," she says, searching his face. "Are you sure you're okay? With Caroline and with Klaus?"

"I'm fine," Tyler assures her. "I promise. You want bathroom first?" She gets the feeling he doesn't want to talk to her anymore.

She shakes her head. "You can go."

* * *

"Are you ever going to tell me what happened with you and Tyler?" Bonnie asks, leaning her head against the row of lockers while Caroline pokes at the books in hers. She's still in a funk and Bonnie is determined to get her out of it or at least get her to stop treating Bonnie like she's a stranger.

"I'm sure he'll tell you eventually," Caroline mumbles.

Well, at least she's talking.

"I don't see why he would," Bonnie says. "I'm your best friend. He's your ex. Telling me is a bit of a conflict of interest. So-"

Caroline scoffs. "Tyler doesn't care about conflicts of interest." With that, she slams her locker shut and turns down the hallway.

Bonnie follows after her, feeling like she practically has to run to keep pace with her. "What do you mean?"

"I mean Tyler doesn't care that you're my best friend and he's my ex."

"I still don't-"

Caroline sighs impatiently and hugs her books tighter against her chest. "Forget it."

"Caroline," Bonnie sighs.

"Bonnie."

This is what they're going to do.

"_Caroline_. What's wrong?"

She stops short and spins around to face Bonnie. "Why do you care so much?"

"Because I'm your friend and you're upset. I just want to help, talk you through it."

"Well, you _can't."_

"Why not?"

Caroline gestures down the hallway impatiently. "I have to go."

"See you at lunch?" Bonnie calls after her.

"I'm skipping lunch today." She doesn't supply a reason.

When Bonnie turns into her literature class, Matt is sitting in his usual spot next to hers. "Hey," he says with a smile. "What's up?"

Bonnie sits and folds her arms on top of the desk. "Do _you_ know what happened with Tyler and Caroline?"

Matt blinks at her like she's just spoken an entirely different language and then his gaze drops to his books. "I don't...I don't think I should say anything," he says.

"But you know?"

"Not because they told me," Matt says hurriedly. "I kind of...overheard them."

"Would you like to share?"

He shakes his head. "I can't."

"Caroline's acting like I stole her favorite cardigan," Bonnie says, "and ruined it. And Tyler's acting just as weird. Just tell me so I can..."

"So you can...?"

"I don't know," Bonnie says. "Fix it?"

That's probably unlikely but she should still try. She can't keep going back and forth like she has, trying to figure out what kind of drama has erupted between the two of them now. And she definitely can't have Tyler distracted, not when they've got April to protect and Stefan to worry about. He's got a bit of a grace period, with Stefan off doing whatever it is he's doing, but everyday that goes by is another day closer to Stefan's return. And if they want to keep April alive, they have to deal with Stefan as soon as he's back.

"You're not gonna be able to fix it," Matt says warningly.

"So I heard. Just tell me."

"Bonnie-" He's hesitant.

"_Matt_. Tell me."

He sighs heavily and glances around like he thinks he'll be overheard. "Is there something going on with you and Tyler?"

That wasn't what she was expecting. "What do you mean?"

There's no way any of the others have figured out what her and Tyler (and Jeremy) been planning. They've been careful and they've also been laying low for weeks.

"I mean are you and Tyler...doing...things?"

_Killing Salvatores? Yes._

Instead Bonnie says, "...Like?"

"Like...you know."

Bonnie must still look confused - and she is - because Matt sighs again and leans across the aisle to whisper. "Are you and Tyler..._together_ or something like that?"

"No_," _she says. Didn't Caroline pass along the good sex with Jeremy memo? "Why would you think that?"

"Because...I think Caroline thinks that."

Did Caroline lose her copy of the memo?

"Why does she think that?"

"I don't know," Matt answers.

She doesn't have time to press him on it further because Mrs. Patton shows and they all fall silent. And Matt looks away from Bonnie purposefully and she knows she won't get his attention anymore this period. She pays no attention to today's lesson. She's too stuck on Caroline and Tyler and Caroline thinking there's a Bonnie and Tyler thing happening.

The ridiculous idea of it all aside, it explains a lot.

When the bell rings, Bonnie feels for Caroline. She's with Elena outside one of the chemistry labs and Bonnie heads toward them. Caroline still looks morose despite Elena's obvious attempts to cheer her up.

"Can we talk?" Bonnie asks Caroline quickly. Before she can refuse or something, she reaches for the blond's hand. "I'll make it fast."

Elena looks at them curiously but doesn't say anything as Bonnie tugs Caroline into the bathroom. For the moment, all the stalls are empty and it's just them. "I talked to Matt," Bonnie says, "and he told me what you're mad about."

Caroline folds her arms across her chest and blinks. "And what am I mad about?"

"You think something's going on with me and Tyler?"

When Caroline purses her lips, Bonnie knows Matt was right. "There isn't," she says.

She waits for Caroline to say something but the other girl just stands there. The bathroom door swings open and another girl comes in.

"Excuse me," Caroline snaps, "we're having a conversation here."

"Well talk somewhere else," the girl says. She's a freshman most likely and doesn't know who Caroline is. If she did, she would have turned around immediately. Caroline blocks her path to the stalls and stares down at the girl with narrowed eyes. "The one on the second floor is free. Go there."

The compulsion is easy and simple. The girl goes out the door and Caroline looks back to Bonnie, who stares at her disapprovingly.

"What?" Caroline says.

"Well, if we're not going to talk about _that_, let's talk about this," Bonnie says. "There's nothing happening with me and Tyler. Your turn."

"I know there's nothing going on with you and Tyler," Caroline says, leaning against the row of sinks.

"Then what's the problem?"

Caroline cocks her head to the side. "Do you like him?"

To anyone else, Caroline might look loose. Content, easygoing. It's only because Bonnie's known her for so long that she can see Caroline's holding her back a little too straight and has her fist balled up a little too tight. She's bracing herself for Bonnie's answer but Bonnie doesn't know _why_.

"As a friend," Bonnie says. "I've never even thought of him in other way. Well, except that time in third grade but that was only for, like, a day. So that doesn't count. Right?"

Caroline cracks a smile. "Right."

Bonnie goes to stand next to her at the sinks. "It's not like Tyler's ever thought of me that way either."

Caroline's smile tightens and she drops her arms. "What do you talk about with him? I mean, he's living at your house and...you guys never really talked before. So what do you talk about?"

Bonnie isn't sure how this is important but if it'll help Caroline get over this hump she's imagined, she'll go along with it. It would be bad to admit her and Tyler have compared notes on hating Damon and Stefan, the best ways to kill them, talked about how he can't stand Elena and all that. Instead she says they talk about her magic sometimes. And whatever's on TV. She stops there. She can't tell Caroline they've talked about Hayley, his pack, Klaus, Jeremy, Shane. Tyler gave her a Christmas present. She saved his life. They killed Damon together. Went out and drank and danced together. Buried the hybrids together. Drank vodka and ate ice cream together.

She's not sure when she and Tyler started doing so much together.

"Whatever comes up," Bonnie says. "Nothing heavy. Why?"

Caroline shrugs her shoulders. "Just wondering."

"There's _nothing _to worry about," Bonnie assures her.

The bell rings. They're both going to be late to class.

"Why didn't you just ask one of us earlier?" Bonnie asks anyway. She's on time to every class. Being late to one won't kill her. And Mr. Lucas is notoriously lax with the attendance policy. "We wouldn't have had to go through this bathroom thing."

"I did," Caroline says, looking down at the floor. "I asked Tyler."

"And he said there was nothing going on?" Bonnie says. She doesn't know why she phrases it as a question. What else could he have said?

"Right," Caroline agrees. She goes toward the door but she pauses there and turns back to Bonnie. Bonnie thought they were okay now, with this sorted out but something in Caroline's face tells her they aren't. But she doesn't know why. Not until Caroline speaks. "He just wishes there was."

"What?"

Tyler hasn't said anything.

Caroline shakes her head. She doesn't want to talk anymore. As she pulls the door open, Bonnie calls after her but Caroline goes without glancing backward. Bonnie moves to follow her but her phone vibrates in her pocket and she pulls it out. Shane's calling.

"Hello?" she says, staring at the doorway where Caroline had been.

"Bonnie," Shane says. "I didn't think I'd get you. Aren't you in school?"

"Yeah," Bonnie says. "I'm not in class right now so what's up?"

Besides Caroline being angry with her and Tyler _wishing_ things. What exactly does he wish there was anyway? And why is she just now hearing about it?

"I translated some of what you gave me," Shane answers. "It's not much but I'm working on the rest. Either your memory's really bad or your spelling's really bad. It's hard to tell which." He laughs and she knows he's joking and she's supposed to be laughing, too. But she can't make herself do it. Her brain is still with Caroline and with Tyler, acting weird back at home and having a "misunderstanding" with Caroline.

"Okay, so what was it?" Bonnie asks, trying to disguise her impatience. She wants to go after Caroline, she wants to talk to Tyler, she wants this to make sense.

"Well, _memoria_ means memory, obviously. Something about memories. I think it was summoning lost ones."

Should she ask Tyler about it? Or should she just pretend she knows nothing? She'll have to talk to Caroline again but she doesn't know what she'll say to her. She should definitely talk to Tyler first. Or maybe she shouldn't. She doesn't want to make things uncomfortable, even though they already might be. But how to bring it up? What if Caroline made a mistake after all? And she still doesn't know what she's going to say to Caroline. And what will she say to Tyler?

"Bonnie," Shane says, "are you listening?"

She's going in circles and she feels more like a teenager than she's felt recently. Maybe because this is playing out like the plot to some nineties movie. Or maybe it's because Shane's talking in his professor voice and she's standing in the bathroom by herself, trying to figure out when this all got so complicated.

Welcome to Mystic Falls, where you can conspire to kill two vampires no problem but get brought down by boy drama.

"Yeah," she lies. "I have to go. Is there anything else?"

"Not yet," he says. "But I'm working on it. I'll call if I figure anything else out."

Bonnie nods like he can see her and hangs up. She only realizes her mistake afterward. By then it doesn't matter because she's sending a text to Caroline asking her to please come to lunch or at least meet Bonnie so they can talk.

She never gets a response. When lunch rolls around, it's just Bonnie and Elena again.

* * *

"What's wrong?" Jeremy asks when he finds Bonnie in the parking lot after school. She's leaning against Tyler's car, staring down at her phone. She's got that look on her face, the one she has whenever something's bothering her and she must be expecting some kind of call because she's not looking away from her screen.

"Nothing," she says, too quickly. She slips her phone into her pocket. "Did you see April?"

"Yeah but I couldn't get anything," Jeremy admits. "She was in a bit of a rush today. I'm meeting her at the Grill right now. I can try there."

He doesn't even know what to take from April. All he has to do is get it off of her then he can make up some excuse about finding it later. It sounded easy last night but now he's realizing how difficult that is.

Bonnie nods distractedly. "Yeah."

"Are you sure you're okay?"

She nods her head again. "I'm fine. I'm just tired and Tyler's taking forever."

On cue, Tyler comes walking toward them. "Sorry," he says."I got held up."

"I'll see you guys back at the house," Jeremy tells them. "I'm meeting April at the grill."

"I can drop you off," Tyler offers.

"I'm getting a ride with Matt," he says.

He lingers next to Bonnie for awhile. He doesn't know why he reaches for her hand and laces their fingers together. He's just gotten so used to touching her again. His heart leaps in his chest when she squeezes and he doesn't hesitate when he leans forward to plant a kiss on her cheek. It's tamer than everything else they've done, everything they did yesterday but he'd kiss Bonnie's cheek a million times in exchange.

When he pulls away, she's smiling down at their fingers. "I'll see you at home," he says, letting her go.

"Bring back dinner?" Bonnie says.

"You got it. Bye."

Tyler's already in the car by the time Jeremy turns his back. Matt's waiting in his truck when Jeremy approaches. It's littered with fast food wrappers and random bits of notebook paper. As he pulls off the lot, Matt glances over. "How's it going with Bonnie?"

"Good. We're figuring things out."

"What does _that_ mean?"

Jeremy shrugs. "We're...figuring things out. We have sex a lot."

And yesterday she kissed him. Really kissed him. And today he kissed her cheek and she seemed happy about it.

Matt looks slightly scandalized and laughs a little. "That's...something, I guess."

They fall silent but it's a loaded silence, like Matt has something he wants to add. But for some reason, he's hesitant.

"What?" Jeremy says, prodding him along.

"How is it at her house? You and her and Tyler all there together, I mean."

"It's fine," Jeremy says.

"It's not weird?"

"Why would it be weird?"

"You and Bonnie are figuring things out and Tyler's just...there," Matt says. "Nothing's weird about that?"

"No," Jeremy says. Him and Bonnie do have a sex a lot. But Tyler hasn't mentioned being bothered by it. In the beginning, he'd seemed like he wanted it to happen just as much as Jeremy did. Maybe the novelty has worn off to be replaced by annoyance. "Did Tyler say something?"

"No," Matt says. "Me and Tyler don't talk much anymore. He spends more time with you guys than he even thinks about me. I was just asking."

They get to the Grill and Matt's getting out of the truck before Jeremy can ask him why he was so interested.

* * *

Bonnie stares at Tyler.

She doesn't mean to. When he looks her way, she turns her head and she doesn't think he's realized. He's sitting at the kitchen table with his books out in front of him. Apparently, he's doing homework. She should be doing the same but she keeps glancing at her phone every few minutes, trying to see if a text from Caroline came in when she wasn't paying attention. She would have heard if one had, since she's put the ringer up as high as it'll go. But it never makes a sound.

Tyler notices that at least.

"A watched phone never rings," he says. "Who are you expecting? Shane?"

"Caroline," Bonnie answers. "She's...avoiding me, I think."

She looks at him, waiting to see if he'll say anything about it. He knows why.

Eventually he asks, "Why?"

Then Bonnie remembers she hadn't decided whether or not she wanted to talk to Tyler about it. What can she say? _Caroline thinks you have a crush on me or something and I told her that's ridiculous but apparently it's not. Actually it's pretty accurate. I don't know what to do with this information and I'm sorry I'm bringing it up at all_.

"I don't know," Bonnie says instead. "She's just in a mood, I guess."

Tyler looks back down at his book. "She'll get over it."

He says it definitively and she waits for him to say something else, anything else. Anything to confirm or deny what Caroline told her.

She gets nothing. Tyler goes on working.


	36. The Unknown

**Look, an update! As always, thank you for reading and reviewing. I forgot to mention last time that some awesome fanart was made by Gitan312. There's also an AU meme, done by Dixongirl. I've posted a links (to Tumblr) on my profile. **

* * *

The Unknown

For two days, Bonnie says nothing to Tyler. Not about what Caroline told her anyway. They make small talk and discuss Stefan's continued absence. She's getting concerned now, too. If they have to seek Stefan out to kill him, they can do that but Stefan's not getting away. She spells April's keychain, one with a photo of both of April's parents inside of it. She links it to herself, to the pendant she wears. If April's in trouble, she'll know. At this point, April Young may be the safest person in town.

For those two days, Caroline doesn't speak to Bonnie. One the third day of her silent treatment, she tries to ask Caroline when she's going to stop being like this but she slips away before Bonnie can try.

"What's going on with you two?" Elena asks when they have yet another lunch without Caroline.

"I don't know," Bonnie lies. She doesn't understand it herself and explaining it to Elena will be even harder. And she doesn't want to risk Jeremy finding out, not yet. At least not until Bonnie talks to Tyler, whenever she works up the nerve to do that.

Sometimes she catches Tyler looking at her. Where his stare wouldn't have meant anything before, it means everything now. She tries to decipher what he's thinking, if he's thinking anything at all. It still seems harmless from where she stands. He's just looking. Noting her presence. There's nothing behind it. Or maybe there is because even after Tyler's done all the noting of her presence that's necessary, she catches his gaze lingering on her from time to time. Like when she took out the trash this morning, padding out the front door in furry boots and her robe or when they were sitting in the living room helping Jeremy study for his Geography test.

And she looks at Tyler more.

At lunch, while Elena is trying to come up with a way to get Caroline and Bonnie back on speaking terms, Bonnie looks at Tyler. He's at his usual table with the team. Sometimes he's facing her and sometimes he's not. When he is, they make eye contact and he'll wiggle his eyebrows in her direction. She wonders if it means more than the common greeting and she never speaks into his head, not anymore. And she doesn't try to go into his either, worried about what she might hear. When he isn't looking at her, she looks at him. She rests her chin in her hand and just...looks. His shoulders are broad and she can his muscles moving beneath his shirt. Sometimes he raises a hand to rub the back of his neck and the bottom of his shirt may raise up a little so she can see the top of his boxers, peeking out over the waistband of his jeans.

When her face gets hot, she looks away.

Bonnie's distracted, by so many things, when she visits Shane. He's talking and she's barely listening. Her head is back at home with Tyler and Jeremy and somewhere with Stefan. And at Caroline's house with her. And at April's house with her. Her mind keeps coming back to Tyler who has _wishes_.

"Bonnie," Shane says, in his scholarly voice. "You're not listening."

"Sorry," she says, without really meaning it. "There's a lot going on right now."

"Is this about your dream?"

She shakes her head. "No. Just...boy stuff."

April she's got figured out. Tyler is another matter.

Shane looks surprised. Maybe he didn't expect her to have "boy stuff" to deal with. She's quiet about her personal life, for the most part. He knows some things, about her parents not being around and her relationship with her Grams, but telling him about Jeremy and Tyler seems like it would be crossing a line. But he leans back in his chair and folds his arms. "Wanna talk about it?"

Bonnie can't suppress her laugh. "No."

"Come on," Shane says, smiling. "I may be able to help. Believe it or not, I've dated before."

"Just because you read about ancient witches doesn't mean you're dating them," Bonnie jokes. Shane laughs and she leans forward to rest her elbows on the desk. "This guy likes me. I think."

"You think?"

"I was told he does. By his ex-girlfriend. Who is also my best friend."

Shane's eyes widen. "Interesting."

"Any wisdom to pass along?"

"Maybe. What do you think about the boy?"

"He's a friend," Bonnie says. "You met him. Tyler."

Shane nods. "I remember. You don't return his feelings?"

She lifts her shoulders. "I don't know. I've known him my entire life and recently we've gotten closer but I didn't know he was...interested. I didn't even know that was a possibility."

The Tyler Lockwood she's always known hasn't seemed the type to go for a girl like Bonnie. She's actually not sure if Tyler has a type. If he ever had one, Bonnie wouldn't think she'd fit it. Vicki, then Caroline, then Bonnie. Where exactly does she fit into that lineup? Her and Tyler are friends now, real friends. He's as important to her as Elena or Caroline or Jeremy. She'd do for him what she does for them. And she knows Tyler would do the same for her. But it's leap, from friendship to whatever it is Tyler feels. She doesn't know when he made it.

"And I'm kind of seeing someone," she says. "He's friends with Tyler, too."

"Have you considered branching out? Meeting people who don't all know each other?" Shane says.

Bonnie laughs a little. "I haven't actually."

"So you don't know if you feel the same way?"

"I didn't think I did."

"But now?"

"I still don't know."

It changes things, knowing someone feels that way about her. With Jeremy it was the same way. She didn't even look at him until he started looking at her. It was easy to miss those other qualities, the ones she'd find attractive in a boyfriend, when she's occupied with staying alive, still holding onto memories of them when they were all barely friends. Jeremy was Elena's weird little brother with a penchant for doing drugs and a thing for grunge until he suddenly wasn't. And Tyler was an asshole for most of high school and she barely knew him anyway, only through Matt and later, Caroline. And now they go through no one to know each other.

A few days ago Tyler was just Tyler. Her roommate, partner-in-crime and friend. Now he's Tyler, a boy. One who is kind and generous and makes her laugh and came to her to set this thing into motion. Tyler, who gave her a grimoire of her own. Tyler, who's a good hugger and who wants to keep her safe, who would hurt anyone who hurt her, who's glad she picked him and would pick her. Tyler, who hugged her _so_ hard when they finally killed Damon. Tyler, who wiped blood from her nose after they went teleporting around town.

Tyler.

"What happens if you do?" Shane asks. "Feel the same way, I mean."

She gets stuck on a memory of her and Tyler in her room, after she brought him back from death and after they got done arguing about her methods. "I don't know," she says. Tyler's gently pulling leaves from her hair.

* * *

Bonnie ends up at Caroline's house. She doesn't know why she goes. There's nothing she can say to Caroline she hasn't already said. And she feels dumb, being there when she was just telling Shane she didn't know how she felt about Tyler anymore. But she wants to see Caroline. It's been four days since she's spoken to her and they've never gone this long without talking. The thought of Caroline being mad at her and Bonnie not trying to see her makes this rift seem potentially permanent.

It's the weekend and Bonnie and Caroline should be wandering around town, eating lunch at the Grill and doing some shopping while avoiding homework. Bonnie shouldn't be at Whitmore, talking about Tyler with Shane. In a perfect world - where Caroline and Tyler were never together - she'd be able to talk about it with Caroline. She was so excited when Bonnie told her about Jeremy and having good sex. Caroline will never be that happy about her and Tyler.

Not that there is a Bonnie and Tyler for her to have an opinion on anyway.

Caroline comes to the door, walking slowly, leisurely. She's going to make Bonnie wait. "Yes?" she says, when she finally opens the door.

"Stop not talking to me," Bonnie snaps. "It's not my fault Tyler likes me or whatever."

"Or_ whatever_?"

Bonnie rolls her eyes. There was a time she kind of missed this Caroline - ridiculous in her resentment but also right, just a little bit right, in her reasoning. Now Bonnie doesn't remember why. "You know what I mean. This is dumb. I'm your _friend_. I'd never hurt you on purpose."

Caroline leans against the doorframe. "Is he still at your house?"

"I'm not gonna kick him out, Caroline," Bonnie says. "He doesn't have anywhere to go, and I'm _not_ going to make him go back to that empty house if he doesn't want to just because you're throwing a temper tantrum."

"It's not a temper tantrum, Bonnie. I'm _hurt_. He broke up with me and now he's into you!"

"And I didn't ask him to be!"

Caroline looks at the space above Bonnie's head instead of her.

"Caroline," Bonnie says, "please."

She's been to Caroline's a bunch of times but she's never stayed this long at Caroline's front door. She's never been denied entry this way. And even though Caroline's always been good at holding a grudge, she's never been this good at holding one against Bonnie. _  
_

"Can you tell me with absolute, one hundred million percent certainty that nothing is _ever_ going to happen with you and Tyler? That you don't _want_ anything to happen with Tyler?"

_I don't know_.

Bonnie must be taking too long to answer because Caroline lets out an exaggerated groan and goes back into the house. She slams the door behind her.

Welcome to Mystic Falls, where even with the best intentions, you still manage to make things worse.

* * *

Jeremy's off for a run around town when Tyler gets back to Bonnie's. And Bonnie's not back from Whitmore yet either. He's developed a good system for dealing. It revolves mainly around not being alone with Bonnie. Jeremy's usually around and is an able buffer, mostly because his presence is a constant reminder of what Tyler will never have with her, can never have, and is one of the big reasons he should stop wanting it.

It works well when Jeremy's actually around. Not so much when he's not.

As seems to be the situation today.

Bonnie comes in a few minutes after Tyler and she seems to barely notice him as she closes the door and starts up the stairs. She only acknowledges his presence when he calls to her. "Hey."

"Hi." She's looking at him weirdly.

"How'd it go with Shane?"

She pauses at the bottom of the stairs, one hand on the railing.

"Fine."

"You okay?" She isn't the same. There's an ease that doesn't reach her bones today. Where she usually walks like she's on air, quietly content, she looks weighed down. "Something happen with Shane?"

"No," she says. She doesn't try to explain what _did_ happen. Instead, she turns and goes up the stairs.

Tyler can hear her in her room. She's banging around up there but she's usually pretty quiet. Something happened.

It directly contradicts his coping mechanism to go up there and see what's wrong. But he goes anyway. Bonnie's door is closed. It's rare to see it shut during the day. If she's in there, the door's open and she allows Tyler and Jeremy to come in as they please. Maybe she's just changing clothes or something. But it's very quiet on the other side of the door when he knocks.

"Bonnie?"

"Yeah?" She doesn't even yell, just talks at her normal volume.

"Can I come in?"

The door opens and Bonnie stands there. He didn't realize how close he was to the door until she's only a couple inches away from him. He can see clean over the top of her head, she's so short. And when he looks down at her, he's looking directly into her eyes.

_Why do they have to be so fucking green?_

Clearing his throat, he takes a couple of steps back. Standing this close to her in an empty house isn't conducive to coping. He trains his gaze on the spot between her eyes. "Are you sure you're okay?"

"Yeah. I'm fine. I was just going downstairs anyway." She brushes past him and he follows her down the stairs.

He watches her grab a bottle of water from the refrigerator. When she turns around, their eyes meet. They stand there for awhile, looking at each other and he doesn't know what they're doing or why they're doing it but he could do it all day. There's nothing he'd rather stare at than Bonnie, staring at him. She's the first to look away. "I'm gonna do some homework," she says.

"Okay."

Jeremy comes back not long after and Tyler goes back to coping. He wishes Stefan would hurry up and come back. If only to give him something to focus on that isn't Bonnie.

* * *

Jeremy sits down at the edge of Bonnie's bed, looking at her and waiting for her to speak. Tyler's sure something's bothering her but either Bonnie wouldn't tell him or Tyler doesn't know how to ask. He insisted Jeremy try.

"What?" Bonnie says finally, pulling her legs beneath her body. She's been examining her grimoire, the one Tyler gave her, running her fingers over the inked pages and reading silently to herself. He can see the tip of the drawing he gave her at the back of it.

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah."

"Tyler thinks something's wrong," Jeremy confesses.

"I told him I was fine."

First Tyler, now Bonnie, in this weird little mood. Jeremy wonders when his turn will come. Whatever's bothering her, she's not looking keen on sharing with him either.

"Bonnie," he says, grazing the tips of her fingers with his, "if you need to talk, I'm here."

He wonders if she's just tired. Even though Stefan's still wherever he is, she's working. They all need a break. They'll get it when Stefan's gone, if he ever comes back. Whenever they manage to finish it, Jeremy's going to insist they go on some kind of vacation. Or at least sleep for days with the knowledge this town is officially devoid of Salvatores.

"It's this thing with Caroline," she sighs.

"Still not talking to you?"

"Yeah."

Sounds like typical Elena, Bonnie, Caroline drama to him.

"Why?"

"I don't know."

The communication in this town needs work.

"Did you ask Elena? Maybe Caroline told her."

"She didn't," Bonnie says with certainty. "I'll work it out somehow."

"I can help," he says. "Maybe." He doesn't know how.

He's surprised when she takes his hand in both of hers.

"You're cute," she sighs.

Jeremy grins. "You used to think I was hot."

That first kiss in Caroline's house is a memory that has yet to fade. It never will, not if he keeps thinking about it as much as he does. All of his memories of Bonnie are clear that way. He'll add this one to the list.

"That, too," she adds. They smile at the same time and Bonnie runs her fingers over his Hunter's mark. He loves when she touches him.

"Well, the feeling's mutual."

Bonnie's smile fades and he thinks he's said something wrong. "Jeremy."

"Yeah?" He braces himself for it.

"Do you...?" Her voice trails off but she doesn't pick it up again. She shakes her head slightly and plays with his fingers instead.

"Do I...?"

"Nothing," she says.

He arches an eyebrow and looks down at their hands. Her fingers - long, thin and delicate looking - tangle with his. They look small but there's power in those hands. Power of earth, over the world, over him. He's made delirious by her touch. "Do I what?"

"Nothing," she repeats. "Nothing."

Jeremy doesn't believe her but she's not going to finish her question, whatever it may have been.

"It doesn't help that Stefan's not back yet," she says. He feels like she may be trying to change the subject but he goes along anyway. "He has to come back soon, right?"

Stefan doesn't _have_ to do anything. He's a centuries old vampire so he can do whatever he wants, wherever he wants. But they need him back. It's been almost two weeks since Stefan's departure. The longer he's gone the more certain Jeremy becomes he's not coming back, despite Bonnie's dream that says otherwise.

"I can talk to Elena," he says," and see if she's heard from him. Or we can try to make it seem like she needs him back here. He'll come if she calls."

Elena's still trying to convince Jeremy to come back to their house. She thinks she can entice him with the promise of takeout and the hopeful domesticity she's been promoting lately.

"We don't have to," Bonnie says, "not yet. Let's give it another few days. If he's not back, we'll go looking."

Jeremy agrees. Her hands are still holding his. When she leans forward to kiss him, he smiles right before her mouth meets his. He likes this kissing, possibly more than the sex (even though he _loves _the sex). But it's the way she leans into him, wanting him. It's the way her lips slide against his own and her tongue flicks across his bottom lip. It's the way she doesn't let go of his hands. His hands, her hand. His mouth, her mouth. Their hands, their mouths. They're singular.

She lets him go, mouth and hands both.

"Are you sure you're okay?" he asks, just in case.

Bonnie smiles again. He can't tell if she's making fun of him a little bit. "I'm fine, Jeremy. Promise."

Before he goes he kisses her cheek.

"Well?" Tyler says when Jeremy comes back downstairs. For some reason, he was standing on the back porch, headphones in, but Jeremy doesn't ask why.

"It's the Caroline thing," Jeremy explains, "and she's worried about Stefan. She's just stressed out."

Tyler looks toward the stairs like he expects Bonnie to be coming down. Then he turns and goes to the kitchen table to read some book for his English class.

* * *

Another day passes before Bonnie gets sick of herself and her room and Caroline and Tyler. She still doesn't know what she's going to say to him when she finds him downstairs. She hasn't figured anything out. She only knows that she keeps thinking about it, about Tyler. And also about Jeremy. And about Caroline. And then back to Tyler who she's always known is attractive but now seems extra attractive. She used to think there was no one else who could look at her and make her feel as _present _as Jeremy does but Tyler looks at her the same way. Has he always looked at her like that? When did he start? Why didn't she notice it sooner?

She exists and takes up a whole room when Jeremy and Tyler look at her. Her stomach has started doing flippy things whenever she sees one of them and because they share a house, her stomach only ever does flippy things. And she let's Jeremy kiss her. He always goes for the cheek. If she wants to kiss him on the lips she has to initiate it because she thinks he's worried she'll suddenly reject his advances or something. They haven't slept together since she found out about Tyler, now that he's sitting downstairs and has to deal with it. Jeremy doesn't seem to mind the break though. He doesn't even question it.

Kissing Jeremy doesn't confuse her. It's the only thing that doesn't. Jeremy is normal and natural. After all this time, he makes sense. She's used to the familiar joyous feeling whenever he touches her and she likes knowing he feels it, too. But Tyler is still strange and her feelings for him are unwieldy and complicated and she hasn't come up with a definition for them yet. She doesn't even know if they're really there. Besides some looks here and there, Tyler doesn't behave any differently toward her. And he used to seem more invested in Bonnie and Jeremy than even they were. When did that change?

Bonnie likes Tyler, loves him even. He's her friend.

But he could be more, if she let him. If it was possible.

But Caroline's continued silence and Jeremy's incredible kisses remind her that it's not.

She almost wishes she'd never found out. Now she's tiptoeing around her own house, trying not to be too obvious while she examines Tyler and questions everything she's ever thought about him. Everything she noticed pre-revelation takes on new meaning. Lucy asking if he was her boyfriend, Tyler proudly announcing Bonnie saving his life, his lingering touches of Qestiyah's pendant, drinking in her living room together over ice cream, him telling her she looked pretty at the dance, and saying her she deserves better than Elena. Was he trying to tell her she deserves him?

Why didn't she realize it sooner?

Outside of Caroline's detailed stories, Bonnie's never thought about kissing Tyler. But now she glances toward his lips from time to time and she can't deny she likes the shape of them. She can't deny she's curious about what it would feel like.

Jeremy's at Elena's. He politely accepted her request for movies and pizza with April (even though he really didn't want to go) but he stops short of calling it a pity hangout, even though that's what Tyler called it and Bonnie kind of agrees.

Bonnie still doesn't know what she's going to say when she sits down next to Tyler at the table. He's still trying to get through his book for class and it's taking him forever. He glances up when she sits down. "Hi," he says. "I'm actually close to being done now. I'm just rereading this chapter because I have no idea what it was about but I think something important happened."

"Tyler," Bonnie says, "we have to talk."

He sets the book down after sliding a torn piece of paper inside to hold his place. "Something wrong? Is it about Stefan?"

"No," she answers. "It's about us."


	37. Options (Partners Redux)

**This one is slightly longer than usual and includes only Bonnie's and Tyler's POV's but Jeremy's will return in the next update. Thank you for reading and as always, your reviews are a joy. **

* * *

Options (Partners Redux)

When Bonnie sat down, Tyler instantly lost his place in his book. He's been doing that a lot, mostly because it's boring but he was making headway when Bonnie joined him and shattered his concentration and every bit of motivation he'd scraped together to finish the crappy thing. He'd scrambled to find something normal to say, anything really. If it was about Stefan, he could have talked easily about it. Stefan, killing Stefan, is a topic he can run with. When she said, "It's about us," his heart stopped.

"What do you mean?" he asks.

What _us_ is Bonnie referring to? Her and him? Her and Jeremy and him? The three of them?

She folds her hands on top of the table. "Caroline told me why she's mad," she says. "She told me about you. And me."

Tyler's eyes drop to the tabletop and he fingers the edge of his book, wishing he could just go back to reading it now. "When did she tell you?"

"A few days ago," Bonnie answers.

"A few _days_ ago?"

He thought the secrecy part of this situation was implied to Caroline but apparently not. But why should he have expected her to keep his secret anyway? It's not like she owes him anything now that he's fallen hard for her best friend.

"I'm sorry," he says.

"You don't have to apologize."

"Yeah, I do. I'm ruining everything."

Now Bonnie feels awkward and so does he. Caroline's not talking to her and it's all his fault. He knows it's not his fault he feels the way he does. He's said that more than once but he could have hidden it better. There was no reason Caroline had to find out the way she did and there's no reason Bonnie had to find out either. And if Jeremy ever finds out...

Yes, he's ruining everything.

"You're not," Bonnie insists.

"I didn't mean for this to happen," he says. "It was just supposed to be killing, you know? Killing Damon and Stefan. And that's _all_. This wasn't supposed to happen. You weren't supposed to..."

Bonnie tilts her head to the side. And she looks so pretty when she does it, he can barely remember where he was going with that. "What?"

"You weren't supposed to be you," he finishes. "The Bonnie I knew a few years ago wasn't like this. I didn't expect-"

"I've always been like this," she says.

"I didn't know you," he says. "Not the way I do now. You're amazing, Bonnie. The things you do, the way you are. And I'm so grateful-"

"That's all it is," she says. "You're grateful. I helped you, saved your life. You're just-"

"No."

She looks taken aback by his certainty.

"That's not _all_. I'm grateful to Jeremy." He almost stops when he says Jeremy's name. They shouldn't be having this conversation. Because of Jeremy. But Tyler keeps going anyway. Now that he's started, he can't stop. If she knows, he might as well get it all out there. Then she'll have the full story. If he's already messed up what they'd been doing, their delicate dynamic, then he might as well go all the way. "I didn't realize what it was at first but I do now."

It started that day he found her at Whitmore when she was his only hope and his last chance. Bonnie was vengeance and justice and magic, a necessity if he planned on getting anywhere near achieving his goal. He needed her then and he needs her now but his reasons have changed. He needed her help, her on his side. And now he has that, will probably always have that. Bonnie's the kind of person who will always give that to him.

"You're my friend and my partner and my savior," he says, "but grateful is the least of the things I feel toward you."

Bonnie looks down at the table. He thinks he can see the ghost of a smile at the corner of her mouth but it comes and goes so fast he thinks he was imagining it.

"You've fought for me and _with_ me. I'll never be able to tell you how much that means to me."

He can hear Bonnie's intake of breath.

"Bonnie, I-" He reaches for her hand and she pulls away. Tyler stares at the space her hand once occupied and feels the empty air he finds instead of her skin. He tries not to look too disappointed by her withdrawal. "Life hasn't been what any of us expected, you know? It's hard but when I'm around you it seems easy again."

Even though killing Damon and still trying to kill Stefan has been a wild, bumpy ride, it's still the best one he's ever been on. And a lot of that he can attribute to Bonnie.

"Tyler," she says, "we can't. You and I...We're not an option."

_No, I guess we're not_. He puts his hands in his lap and looks at the table instead of her. "I know. I'm Caroline's ex and you're Jeremy's...whatever you guys are. He loves you, you love him. You love Caroline. I love Caroline, too," he adds. "And Jeremy. He's my friend. I know we're not an option but if we were..." He told himself and he told Caroline he wouldn't entertain the thought. Because they aren't an option. Caroline and Jeremy _are_ there, will always be there, and they can't erase what they were or are. But he's entertaining the thought, this stupid hypothetical. "If we were, I'd be with you. If you'd have me."

She probably wouldn't.

"Tyler," Bonnie says. When she extends her hands to him, he takes them even though he's sure it doesn't mean what he wishes it did. "Thank you. For saying all that."

He swallows.

"People don't say that kind of stuff to me," she says, her fingers tight on his. "Thank you for feeling that way about me."

Tyler tries to smile. "You're welcome." It comes out as a question.

"You're important to me," she says. "_Really_ important. You're one of my best friends. When you came to me and told me you wanted to do this, I...You gave me a purpose again, Tyler."

"You've always had a purpose."

Bonnie's whole life is a purpose, more than his. At this point, all he wants is to be part of it. Part of her.

"For other people. Not for me. I wouldn't have been able to do this without you, and I never would have considered trying without you." Her fingers are twined with his, small and dark against his bigger, paler ones. "It's actually been really fun."

Tyler returns her smile with one of his own. "It has been fun."

They sound like homicidal maniacs but there's no one else around to hear anyway.

"I'm so glad you came to me," she says.

He is, too.

"But we're not an option. _Okay_? We're not."

He fools himself into thinking she's trying to convince herself, too.

When she touches his face, Tyler tilts his head to her touch. He nods and runs his fingers along her wrist. She's warm and he can hear her pulse thrumming along near his ear. "But if we were? If we could...Would we?"

He can't stop picking at it. If she just tells him it would never happen - not in a million years, not even if her and Jeremy never happened, not even if Caroline gave them her blessing - he would let it go. If she didn't want him at all, he would let it go. He'd do his best to forget this, the feeling of her touching him, and his long winded confession. He'd move out and they'd only meet to talk about finishing their mission. He can do that if she tells him to. It'll hurt but he'll do it.

Bonnie closes her eyes and sighs but she doesn't move her hand. "We can't," she says, "so what's the point?"

"There isn't one," he says. "But would we?"

She presses her lips together. She's got perfect lips.

Tyler knows she loves Jeremy. Whatever it is she's thinking about, whatever she thinks about him, will always be right beside what she feels for Jeremy. He will never cancel that out but he doesn't mind it right now. He touches her face and pushes a piece of her hair behind her ear. He's been wanting to do that for so long.

"Bonnie," he whispers. Their knees knock together as he moves closer to her. "Would we? Would we at least try?"

She touches his hand and he thinks she may pull it away. He thinks at any moment she's going to stand up and repeat how they _can't_. But she doesn't. She just stays there, her hand on top of his. She doesn't look at him but down at the table and her lashes are long and thick against the tops of her cheeks. Her pulse is fast.

Bonnie swallows. "Yes."

His relief must be palpable. He strokes the back of her hand with his fingers and looks at her. Really looks at her, without feeling obligated to look away, without needing to hide what he's staring at. Her. Her very green eyes and the gentle curve of her mouth. Her mouth. He raises his eyes to hers and knows she's realized what he's looking at, what he wants to do.

They'll never do this again. They'll never talk about it again. Tyler won't _think_ about it again. Well, he'll think about it a lot but this is it. Nothing can - or will - come from it. Nothing but this.

Just one kiss. Just to see what they could be.

Bonnie's fingers slide to his neck to wind around the collar of his shirt. At first he thinks she may be trying to hold him in place, so he won't kiss her. His fingers twitch against her cheek and he's about to pull away, let her disengage, go to her room, and forget this ever happened. But then her hold tightens and he realizes she's pulling him in.

Her eyes flutter closed milliseconds before his lips touch hers.

And she does taste like magic.

* * *

Bonnie remembers that day in the cellar, when her and Tyler decided they were in this together, when they agreed to do this daring thing as partners. _  
_

This wasn't the partnership she'd anticipated.

She expected clandestine killing under the dark of the night and secret glee when Stefan and Damon dropped dead. She didn't expect to be sharing a house with Tyler and Jeremy both. She didn't expect to be one of a threesome. But those things are easily forgotten, easily accepted, a natural deviation from plans made early.

But this.

She never expected Tyler Lockwood to have her by the mouth.

He was hesitant at first and so was she, even as her fingers gripped his collar and she guided him toward her. After awhile, he became more certain and she let his tongue skate across her lips. The second time his tongue flicked out, she met it with her own. And they haven't come up for air since.

One hand holds the back of Bonnie's neck, angling her lips to his. The other rests on her knee. She doesn't know when it got there but it probably happened around the time she released his hand to touch his chest. He's cold but it's an electric kind of chill, one that leaves her fingertips tingling. When she presses her palms wholly against him and glides them along his stomach, he hums against her mouth. She wants to feel all of him and her hands mark a path along his chest, around his waist, and slide across his shoulder blades.

The cold still clings to her fingers but he's warming up beneath her touch. His lips are scorching. When her hands go back to his chest and find his heart, she feels Tyler shudder. His other hand drops to her leg and squeezes. It's her turn to hum when he slides her chair closer to him with his foot. If she got any closer she'd be in his lap, and his hands take hold of her waist she wonders if that's the endgame. It would be easy for him to lift her. She's surprised at how badly she wants him to.

Tyler's phone rings and she glances over. It looks like such an insignificant thing, a slice of metal and technology, nothing compared to them or their kissing or his hands on her hips.

The name that flashes across the screen isn't as easy to write off.

Jeremy.

Bonnie pulls her lips from Tyler's and untangles herself from him. She has to push the chair back to make room. "Bonnie?" he says. He stands, too, when she starts pacing the living room, trying to figure out where to go.

"Bonnie?" he repeats.

The ringing stops.

Tyler stands next to her. "Bonnie."

The house feels like a tomb. All she can hear is her frantic heart and Tyler's low voice. The ringing of Tyler's phone has faded into oblivion.

It's quiet when Tyler's fingers brush against hers. And still quiet when he takes her hand and laces their fingers together again. His other hand rises to stroke her cheek and he's leaning toward her, to kiss her again. She watches his mouth as he gets closer and clutches his hand when his lips barely brush hers.

The ringing returns.

She lets go of his hand.

"Bonnie," he says, as she steps away from him.

She wishes he wouldn't say her name like that. _Like a spell_, she thinks. _Jeremy says it like that, too_. She retreats to her bedroom and grabs her purse and keys. When she goes back down, Tyler hasn't moved. He's rooted to the spot in the living room and neither of them speaks as she goes out the front door.

* * *

Bonnie's only been gone for a little while when Jeremy comes back. "I called you," he says. Tyler's sitting at the kitchen table again, his book closed in front of him and his eyes glued to the chair where Bonnie had been sitting just a few minutes ago, where he'd been holding her tight against him, his mouth fastened to hers.

He tries not to think about it as he answers Jeremy. "Yeah, sorry. My phone was on silent."

If it had been, he might still be kissing Bonnie right now.

"I was going to grab dinner," Jeremy says, "but I didn't know if you guys were hungry."

Jeremy sits in front of the television with his history book open. "Where's Bonnie anyway?" he asks.

"I don't know."

She'll come back eventually but Tyler wonders if he should be here when she does. It might just be better to go now, before she returns. He'll tell Jeremy they discussed it already and it won't be a big deal. Tyler decides that's what he'll do but still doesn't move from the table. Instead, he rereads the same page of his book at least ten times, continually distracting himself with thoughts of Bonnie and her lips and her blissful sighs. Then he busies himself with the guilt and Jeremy sitting right there.

Jeremy's asking him what he knows about the French Revolution when Tyler interrupts.

"I kissed Bonnie."

* * *

The Grill is slow today. Bonnie finds a booth in the corner and sits down. For awhile, all she can do is stare at the tabletop and think about the tingling in her fingers and the still present burning sensation on her mouth.

"You okay?" Matt asks.

She nods. "Yeah. Are you okay?"

"...Yeah," Matt says. "Have you talked to Caroline?"

"No," Bonnie says.

Is this the one grudge Caroline's going to be able to hold for all of eternity? Before she even knows they kissed? When she finds out about that, she'll officially never speak to Bonnie again.

"I'm sure she'll get over it," Matt says, in a failed attempt at making her feel better. "I mean, you told her nothing's going on, right?"

She really doesn't want to talk about this.

Matt takes her silence as a "yes". "She'll get over it," he says certainly. "Can I get you anything?"

She's not hungry but she asks for an iced tea and Matt goes to get it.

"I'm such an idiot," she mutters to herself.

From her purse, her phone rings. She reaches for it, not knowing what she'll do if it turns out to be Tyler calling. Not even knowing what she'll do if it's Jeremy.

It's not Tyler. And it's not Jeremy either.

It's Stefan.

* * *

Tyler doesn't know why he says it. Because Jeremy's his friend? His family? And with the exception of Bonnie, he's all Tyler's got left in this stupid deathtrap of a town? And sitting there with him, after what happened and not telling the truth, makes him feel sick?

All of the above?

Jeremy's silence makes him feel worse.

"Jeremy," he begins, when the quiet has stretched too long, "I-"

"Why?"

Tyler tries to shake off his discomfort. He did this. He opened it up. Of course Jeremy's upset - he's got every right to be. Still, he can't unlock his fingers, clasped in front of him, and he still can't look at Jeremy, too worried about what he'll see. "I like her," he answers.

Jeremy scoffs. "You like her?"

Tyler tries to remember a time when Jeremy sounded as angry as he does now. Maybe back when Vicki was alive but he can't remember it for sure. But he remembers the way Jeremy sounded at Elena's Christmas party, right before he cut through Damon's neck with a butcher knife. He doesn't think Jeremy will go that far but he's pissed and they both know it. Most of Jeremy's gear is gathered in the duffel bag in the corner anyway, out of reach for the moment, and there are no other sharp objects around.

"You _like_ Bonnie?" Tyler nods. Jeremy's yell fills the whole room and reverberates in Tyler's head. "I'm _in love_ with Bonnie!"

If there had been a knife around, that would have been the moment Tyler would expect it to slice cleanly through his throat.

Tyler turns his gaze to the floor. "I'm sorry."

"Shut up, Tyler," Jeremy hisses. "You weren't sorry when you kissed her. Were you?"

Tyler shakes his head.

"Did she kiss you back?"

Tyler still doesn't look at him.

"Did she?" Jeremy persists. "Come on, Tyler! Did Bonnie kiss you back?"

Tyler doesn't speak. His silence is his answer.

Under any other circumstances he would be smiling at the thought of Bonnie kissing him the way she did, her hands exploring his body and her tongue tangling with his. If Jeremy wasn't upset, if what they did hadn't hurt Jeremy, he'd be relishing in it. But these are the circumstances and Jeremy _is_ hurt.

There's nothing to be happy about.

"What the hell is wrong with you?" Jeremy says. "You _know_ how I feel about Bonnie. We've talked about it. You gave me shit about it. Why would you...?" He trails off and pulls on his jacket.

"Where are you going?" Tyler asks as Jeremy heads for the door.

He doesn't answer.

Tyler would rather Jeremy stuck around, even if it meant taking a punch or two.

He follows Jeremy out of the house, calling after him. They both stop short when they see Bonnie coming up the pathway, her hair blowing in the wind. "What's wrong?" she asks when she sees them.

Tyler opens his mouth to explain but Jeremy does so first. "So you two are just _kissing_ now?"

Bonnie's eyes are wide when they land on Tyler but she doesn't see his apologetic expression because she's turned her attention back to Jeremy. "Jeremy-"

"I changed my mind. I don't want to talk about it," Jeremy says, throwing up his hands. He starts walking away from them. Tyler calls after him but Jeremy doesn't turn around until Bonnie speaks.

"Stefan's back," she says. Jeremy pauses and turns around, looking reluctantly intrigued.

Tyler faces her. "He is?"

"He got back earlier today," she says. "He found something on the cure. He wants me and Elena to meet him at the boarding house."

Tyler expects Jeremy to stay, if only for this. Even if he hates them both right now, he'll still want to kill Stefan. But all he says is, "Okay." Then he resumes his walk.

"Jeremy!" Tyler calls.

He stops just long enough to look back at Tyler and say, "Fuck you."

Tyler can't think of anything to tell him. He knew this would happen and he knew he would deserve it when it did. He looks to Bonnie imploringly. If someone could get Jeremy to come back, it's her. Even when he's angry with her, Jeremy loves her. But she's pushing her hair off her forehead, looking after Jeremy with an expression just as lost and sad as Tyler imagines his to be.

"Bonnie, I'm sorry," Tyler says. How many times is he going to say that today?

She looks at him and shakes her head, letting out a sigh. "I have to go." She goes to her car and Tyler looks up the street, to Jeremy's retreating back. Bonnie's car pulls away from the curb and Jeremy gets smaller and smaller the further he goes. For a moment, Tyler thinks about going after him but it would probably only make it worse.

Tyler turns and goes back into the house.

Welcome to Mystic Falls, where everything's falling apart.

* * *

By the time she gets to the boarding house, Bonnie's brain has been separated into two halves. One half is thinking of Stefan and what he found while he was away, how they can finally kill him now. But that leads to the second half of her brain trying to figure out just how that's going to happen with Jeremy rightfully pissed at her and Tyler. The two of them could probably do it alone. That was the original plan, after all, but it wouldn't feel right. Even now, just thinking about it, feels wrong.

Jeremy was going to find out eventually. Maybe not as soon as the same day, within an hour and a half of the kiss happening, but he was always going to find out. The memory of him walking away and his bitter "Fuck you" to Tyler replays itself in her head as she approaches the front door of the boarding house. The memory weighs her down.

Stefan opens the door before she can reach it.

She doesn't know what she expected. Maybe for him to look different, aged somehow even though that's not possible. He looks the same, in fact right down to the gray t-shirt and dark jeans. "Hey, Bonnie," he says with a smile that used to be comforting to her. He hugs her and she awkwardly pats his back.

"How was your trip?" she asks, as he pulls away.

"It was okay," Stefan says. "I did some thinking, figured some things out."

Bonnie takes off her jacket and drapes it over the back of a chair in the living room. "Where'd you go anyway?"

"Louisiana," he answers. "New Orleans, to be specific. Ever been?"

"Always wanted to go," she says.

"It's fantastic," he says. "And for a witch, it's probably even better."

Bonnie smiles as genuinely as she can.

"Do you want something to drink?" Stefan asks. He's trying to make up for everything that happened before he left. Elena will be here soon and it'll only help Stefan's image if she sees him being kind and normal, or as normal as Stefan can be. "Water? Soda? I've got tea."

"I'll take tea then."

Maybe that will help her focus.

Bonnie sits down at the edge of the chair as Stefan goes into the kitchen. She checks her phone, looking for something from Jeremy or even Tyler. But there's nothing. She's about to punch out a text to Jeremy when Stefan returns with a steaming cup of tea and a napkin for her. She drops her phone back into her bag. "Thanks," she says. She takes a sip. It's not nearly as good as Shane's but she drinks it down anyway while Stefan sits down across from her.

"So what'd you find?" she asks.

"We should wait for Elena," Stefan says.

"Okay," Bonnie agrees. She sets the cup of tea down on the table and stares at it. The surface of the brown liquid trembles slightly and then becomes still. Stefan doesn't speak.

Bonnie lets her mind drift to Tyler and his mouth on hers that morning, hot and cold, gentle and forceful, all at once. She can still feel his hand at the back of her neck, angling her mouth to his to kiss her harder and his tongue brushing against hers. She can still hear the contented humming sound he made when she pressed herself against him. But she drifts to Jeremy, too. His back, getting further and further away from her, coupled with memories of his mouth on her neck and his voice in her ear. His hands, everywhere, and in a moment of perfect bliss, his name the only word she's capable of forming.

The room is spinning slightly.

She doesn't know when it started.

"Bonnie," Stefan says. His voice sounds far away. "You okay?"

She rests her head in her hand, squeezing her eyes shut. When she opens them, she expects to see things right side up. She gets the opposite.

"Stefan," she says. Her own voice sounds warped.

"Bonnie," he repeats, standing and stepping toward her. He squats down in front of her, peering up at her face. He reaches behind his back and digs into his pocket.

When he holds out his hand, with something resting in his palm. She doesn't know what it is. Her sight focuses just enough for her to make it out. A tiny little makeshift bag, loaded with fake herbs. Her blood turns to lead and she swallows down a lump in her throat.

"Remember these, Bonnie?"

_To block the magic_, she almost recalls telling Stefan.

"I got my hands on some real ones," he says, nodding to the tea. "They seem to be doing the trick."

They are. She can barely think of a spell much less use one.

Her hands drops to her bag, reaching for her phone, but her movements are slow. Stefan easily reaches and pushes her bag out of reach. She doesn't even know why she tried.

_Human instinct_, she thinks. The fog that's settled over her mind, over her magic, is thick. It rolled in so quickly. She eyes the cup of tea, inoffensive and harmless looking, now only half full of the liquid that's doomed her.

_Stupid_, she thinks. This is Stefan. She should have known. How could she have come there, distracted with thoughts of kissing Tyler and Jeremy when she was going to be face to face with the vampire she's been conspiring to kill? What ever happened to witch's instinct? _Stupid._ Stefan touches her face and tilts her head back so he can look at her. His fingers are just as gentle on hers as Tyler's had been earlier. This time she's more aware of how very snappable her neck is.

Bonnie remembers that cellar again, where her and Tyler decided Stefan would be the first to go.

If only he had been.

His finger floats across her neck. "Now let's talk about why you killed my brother."


	38. Interview With A Vampire (And A Witch)

**We really don't need to discuss what transpired in Thursday's episode. It will have no bearing here and the pain is still fresh. Please accept my perpetual thanks for reading and reviewing! **

* * *

Interview With A Vampire (And A Witch)

Bonnie is tied to a chair. The ropes dig into her skin, knotted expertly and tightly. Getting out of them without magic is impossible.

Magic is also impossible.

It's strange - strange and infuriating - to be powerless again, after all this time. With her head down, she can see Qetsiyah's pendant hanging around her neck and she wonders if Qetsiyah was ever powerless. Was Emily? Was Ayanna? Was Grams? Probably not.

"A hybrid, a witch and a hunter," Stefan says, circling her like a vulture over a meal. "Tyler. You. Jeremy. All three of you together and conspiring to kill."

Bonnie doesn't speak. He still hasn't explained how he knew, besides throwing those herbs in her face.

How long has she been gone? It took about fifteen minutes to get to the boarding house. And she had to be sitting with Stefan for at least another fifteen, maybe twenty, when he drugged her. Or at least that's what she thinks. But time has taken on new meaning now that she's just beginning to see straight again. Stefan must have mixed those herbs with a sedative.

How long until Tyler and Jeremy worry?

Jeremy's off walking and not speaking to either of them. It could be hours before he realizes something's going on. Tyler might notice but what if he takes Bonnie's silence as her just not wanting to talk to him because of their kiss?

Stefan's timing is impeccable. He should receive an award for picking the most opportune time for striking. When all three of them are off their game and avoiding each other.

Fantastic.

"Did you really call Elena?" she asks. Her voice is a dull rasp.

If Elena comes, she _will_ help her. Or at least Bonnie hopes she will. She may be in shock at first after learning about Bonnie's extracurricular activities but she won't let Stefan keep her tied to this chair.

"No," Stefan says. "I just wanted to make sure you'd come without being nervous. I do wonder how she'll react to all this."

So does Bonnie but there's also a part that doesn't care as much as it used to. And what will she say to Elena anyway? She won't apologize - can't apologize. She wasn't sorry when they started planning and wasn't sorry once Damon died. She's not even sorry now, when Stefan could snap her neck or drain her blood in a second. She's only sorry Stefan's still alive and she wasn't paying enough attention to see herself walking straight into this trap.

Stefan sits down across from her in a chair. The way he moves now, it's the Ripper in him. She remembers the terror she felt when she touched him once, the first time they met. It felt like death back then and now that she knows how accurate that was, now that the Ripper is staring at her with dark eyes, coiled and ready to strike, she wishes she'd realized what Stefan was a long time ago. She wishes Tyler had come up with this idea sooner, that she'd tried months ago.

If only Stefan had died already.

If she could, she'd kill him right now.

"I started having strange little flashes," he says. "You remember the party at Tyler's house? I'm sure you do since that's the night you tried to kill _me_."

How could she forget?

"Like I said, these little flashes began and they seemed like memories but I didn't actually..._remember_ them," he says. "A witch helped. She restored my memories. We were actually worried you might have realized the spell was being tampered with. She said the magic was _strong. _She thought you might have felt it."

The chanting.

_Memoria. Something about memories. I think it was summoning lost ones_.

Stefan's lost memories. Well, not so much lost as stolen. Memories she took away and another witch - nameless, faceless and in New Orleans - returned.

_I did feel it,_ she thinks. _I just didn't know what it was_. _Stupid._

"You killed Katherine," he says. Bonnie's mouth twitches into a slight smile. "The spell you did to find her," he says. "It _did work."_

"Not the way you intended," she says. "But yeah, I guess it did."

"The witch I found was able to sense where you left her. Well, her ashes anyway," Stefan says. "I'd thank you for that if you hadn't killed Damon, too."

Katherine and Damon, their greatest hits.

"Explain it to me, Bonnie," he says, crossing one leg over the other. "Tyler I understand. Damon killed Hayley and we've never had much of a relationship either."

"It didn't help that you got his entire pack killed."

"Only _after_ you all killed my brother," Stefan hisses. "And knowing what I know now, I'm regretting my decision to save Carol Lockwood's life."

"Join the club," Bonnie snaps. "I've been regretting my decisions to save yours and Damon's lives for a while now."

Stefan lets out a huff of breath. "And Jeremy's a hunter now. He can't control himself..."

Bonnie smiles at that. "You think Jeremy wants to kill you because he's a hunter? He can't _possibly_ have any other reasons? Do you remember when you killed Vicki Donovan?" It's quite possible Stefan forgot. What's one more victim added to a list of hundreds, possibly thousands? "Jeremy has _perfect_ control. He wants to kill you because you _deserve _it, not because he has no choice."

Stefan tilts his head to the side. "It's hard to believe he'd do this to his own sister. I can't even wrap my mind around _you_ doing this to her. Didn't you once consider her a sister, too?" _  
_

Welcome to Mystic Falls, where what everyone needs is a lesson on morality from Stefan Salvatore.

"You've done much worse," Bonnie says, "to Elena and to everyone else. I haven't lost any sleep over this, Stefan and I won't lose any. Damon was a _monster_. He terrorized this town, killed Jeremy, almost killed me, would have killed Tyler. I know you can't have forgotten what he did to Caroline. Or maybe you have. You've always been good at ignoring the things Damon does to other people and somehow you can also ignore the things he did to you. And you? You're the Ripper. You're no hero."

Stefan narrows his eyes.

"I can make a list," Bonnie says, "of all the reasons I have to kill you and Damon. At the top of said list is my Grams who died solving your problems. She's right next to my mom. Would you have preferred we flipped a coin? One of you could die and the other could live. Would that have been better?"

Stefan stares at her, his head tilted to the side and his hands clasped in front of him. "Abby's still alive," he says. "Damon isn't."

Life means something different to witches. Stefan will never understand that Abby _is_ dead without the magic. It's all she ever knew and now it's been replaced by blood.

"_Good,_" she hisses. "He lived long enough. _Too long_ if you ask me."

"I didn't ask you."

"You did actually," she snaps. "You asked me why and I told you. Damon got what he deserved."

Bonnie thinks Stefan may hit her. Torture may not be what he had planned for tonight but he could switch it up at any moment if he wanted. She holds his gaze defiantly and tries to set him on fire with her mind.

She fails.

* * *

Tyler can't remember ever being _this_ alone in Bonnie's house before. It's not the first time he has been, but it's the first time he's not sure who's coming back. Bonnie surely will, it's _her_ house, but Jeremy could be talking to Elena and reclaiming his bedroom at this very moment. For all he knows, he'll be asked to leave, too.

Tyler sends a text to Bonnie. _How's it going?_

He doesn't know if she'll respond after earlier. First they were kissing and now they're not speaking. But she'll respond eventually, right? She'll do it if only to make sure he doesn't worry. And how much time is she going to spend at the boarding house with Elena and Stefan? Unless she'd prefer that to spending her time with him and Jeremy. Maybe she's looking for a distraction and Stefan is providing one. Perhaps she'd rather spend the next few hours lying to Stefan's face instead of dealing with Tyler and Jeremy and their crumbling situation.

Tyler checks his phone even though it's only been a couple minutes since he sent that text. There's nothing there.

* * *

Bonnie thinks the herbs are wearing off but she tries not to look any perkier to Stefan. He'll force more tea down her throat if he suspects anything. She's tapping her foot on the floor, trying to get it to stop tingling, when Stefan tosses something into her lap. It takes her a moment to recognize the burned, black square as what remains of his journal.

"Was it Jeremy who came for it?" Stefan asks, settling back into his seat across from her. "Had to be. Tyler would be dead, wouldn't he? But Jeremy can just keep coming back. It's a good thing he didn't lose his mind after that one. That would have created some questions."

Bonnie stares down at the book. It's a better sight than Stefan is but it reminds her of the day Jeremy died again, burned to death at Stefan's hand. A knot forms and twists in her stomach. She moves her legs just enough so the book slides off and falls with a _thump_ to the floor.

"When I realized the truth," Stefan says, unfazed by her silence or her discarding of the journal, "it all started making sense. You offering to help me find who killed Damon, revoking my invitation to your house, saving Tyler's life."

"I would have saved Tyler's life anyway," she says.

"I'm sure you would have," he says, "but how did you know he would need you?"

The dream Bonnie had of Tyler, if only her dream of Stefan had been half as enlightening. She could have prepared for this. She bends her fingers behind her back, feels the gentle cracking of her bones.

God, she _really_ wants her magic.

"Bonnie," Stefan says, easing closer to her. His knees brush against hers and she twitches away from her, drawing back her legs as far as she can. He notices her recoil and the corner of his mouth lifts into a smile.

"How long have you hated us?" he asks. "When did it start? When did you reach the point of committing murder?"

Bonnie's not sure if she ever _hated_ them. It seemed pointless to hate them when they were necessary to Elena and to Caroline and sometimes, to getting the job done. It all shifted when Tyler found her, with the idea to rid the world of them forever. _Then_ she started hating them, when she could do something about it.

_Murder_.

She doesn't like that word, not in reference to them at least. "Murder," she says, "implies that you're innocent. You and Damon are _not innocent."_

"Maybe not," Stefan admits, "but I wonder if Elena and Caroline will believe we deserve to die."

They won't.

"What about the people you killed?" Bonnie asks. "Did they deserve to die? Did my Grams? Vicki? Hayley? The pack? Did my mom _deserve_ be turned into a vampire?"

"That was necessary," Stefan says, his teeth clenched together. "Elijah forced our hand. If we hadn't, Elena-"

"_Fuck Elena!"_

Tyler would have been proud of her. It'd be nice if he was there to see. After he was done applauding, he could get her out of this chair and help her kill Stefan.

He folds his arms and leans back in his chair. "And that's how you feel about your _best_ _friend_."

"If you had actually _tried_ we would have found another way to help her," she says, "but you didn't try. You did the easy thing and sacrificed me and my _mother_. That's always been easy for you, Stefan. No one's ever mattered but you and Damon and _Elena._"

"Then why not kill her, too?"

Just because she wants to kill both of Elena's boyfriends, he assumes Elena's name is on their hit list somewhere. "Because I _am_ her best friend," she says. "And maybe one day, without you here, she'll be mine."

"She won't be," Stefan says, "not after this. Sired or not, she _loved_ Damon. You killed him right in front of her, in cold blood, and you've been lying to her face this whole time. "

"Yes," Bonnie says. "I decided it was worth it. If you've been justified in all the horrible things you've done, then why aren't we? Why are we the bad guys after all you've done? Tell _everyone_ we killed Damon, Stefan. Tell this whole town and see the party they throw. The only people broken up about Damon dying were you and Elena. And when you're dead - because you'll die, too - who will care? Elena? Yes. Caroline? Maybe. Klaus? I'm sure he'll throw quite the hissy fit. Rebekah's still rotting in that coffin. But who else? Who loves you, Stefan? No one."

That's where Bonnie and Stefan are different. She has Caroline, Elena, Jeremy, Tyler, Matt, her father when he's around. Maybe even Lucy. Maybe Abby, too, if she ever sees her again. There are people on her side. If people can overlook Damon and Stefan and all they did, they can overlook Bonnie, Tyler and Jeremy killing them.

"But what do you care?" Bonnie sighs. "As long as Elena cries over you, you're happy. That's all you need. As long as Elena still loves you, nothing else matters."

Stefan shakes his head. "You're a piece of work, Bonnie Bennett." He pushes himself up from his chair and turns to face the fire. He's thinking.

Bonnie closes her eyes and imagines leaving. She envisions her kitchen, the table with Tyler's book sitting on the end. She imagines being there with him and Jeremy, laughing over something stupid. She remembers Tyler kissing her there, his mouth forceful on hers and his hands clutching her legs. She thinks of her bedroom, her back sinking into the mattress as Jeremy covers her mouth with his. She thinks of that plant on her windowsill and her Spice Girls poster and the stack of grimoires in her bedroom.

_Home_, she tells herself. _Home_._  
_

She doesn't get home.

She does, however, get outside.

* * *

Jeremy wanders as the sun dips lower and lower in the sky, transforming the sky into an orange and purple haze. He stops at the park and sits on one of the benches. Town is quiet today.

_I kissed Bonnie._

Fuck this. Fuck that.

_I kissed Bonnie_.

Jeremy really wants to stop picturing it but he can't. He's all too familiar with Bonnie's lips, moving gently across his own, her hands on his shoulders, her tongue sliding effortlessly against his.

And now Tyler is, too.

When did this happen?

He remembers what Matt said, all the questions about sharing a house with Tyler while him and Bonnie are doing whatever it is they're doing. Maybe this was what he meant. And if so, why is Jeremy the last to know? He should have noticed _something. _He reminds himself he and Bonnie weren't officially back together anyway even though the kisses, more common and less sexually saturated, had given him a little hope for something more than an occasional rendezvous in the shower.

Bonnie is entitled to kissing whoever she wants. He just didn't think it would be Tyler.

Jeremy pulls out his phone and stares at the screen. No missed calls. No texts. His finger hovers over Bonnie's name in his contacts and then Tyler's. He goes back to Bonnie's and sends her a text, just to make sure she's doing okay with Stefan.

* * *

Bonnie's at the side of the house. It's a part she isn't familiar with but then again, she's never had cause to examine the layout of the property before. There are trees to every side. Gravel crunches beneath her boots and the wind tugs at her hair as she rounds the house. She clings to the side, willing her footfalls to be silent. She could run for her car but without the keys she's got no chance. And even if she did, Stefan would have an easy time of running her off the road.

Escaping a vampire would be easy if her powers were at full strength. Maybe the herbs are working their way out of her system but how capable is she of anything? She may be able to hold Stefan off with an aneurysm at least for a little while. Maybe she'll be able to reach the road on foot and hope someone comes along but what if Stefan doesn't care about involving any random passerby? He might just kill anyone who tried to help her.

"Bonnie!"

Stefan's voice slices through the air. He's outside, at the front door maybe.

She presses herself more completely against the wall, as if that will do anything. He'll be able to hear her heart pounding and seek her out that way.

The trees, already looking black even as dusk falls, is a certain deathtrap. She'll be loud in there, she knows, falling over branches and slipping and sliding through mud and dirt and leaves. He'll find her instantly.

"Come on, Bonnie! You can't have gone far! Those herbs are world class!"

They certainly weren't _bad_. Before she could get herself to the Grill and now she can only get herself a few yards out of Stefan's living room. But she'll take it.

His voice is getting further away. He's walking in the opposite direction.

Bonnie walks toward his voice and peeks around the wall just in time to see Stefan's dark outline rounding the corner of the house. The front door is still open. She can go in and get her phone while he's out here looking. She can hide in the house, text Tyler and Jeremy, and hopefully Stefan will assume she's out in the woods, attempting to escape. When the boys get there, they can finish this.

No more time to think about it.

Bonnie runs through the door and leaves it open as she goes to the living room. Her bag is right where Stefan left it several feet from the chair she was bound to. The ropes now hang limp, binding nothing. She drops down to sift through the bag and her fingers close around the cool metal of her phone.

_Thank God_.

There are messages waiting for her but she doesn't bother looking yet. Time to hide. She stands, turning to head for the staircase that will lead her to the cellar.

Stefan is standing behind her.

"Don't go yet, Bonnie."

Bonnie concentrates. The aneurysm isn't the strongest she's ever done but Stefan still winces, reaching for his head. She grabs for her keys. She'll take her chances with the car.

She runs past him and is at the still open door. She can see her car and it's like some kind of beacon, her only chance of getting out of here in one piece.

But Stefan is on her, pushing the door shut. Before she can turn around to try to give him another aneurysm he grips the back of her neck with icy fingers and slams her head into the door.

Bonnie crumples to the floor, squeezing her eyes shut against the pain. Though her head is spinning, she sees Stefan as he crouches down next to her. "Now you have a little idea of what that feels like." She starts slipping into unconsciousness as Stefan throws her over his shoulder and carries her back to that chair.

* * *

Jeremy doesn't realize he's walked to his house until he hears Elena calling out to him.

"Hey," she says. She comes down the path toward him, her hair pulled back into a ponytail. She looks nice, in a purple dress and heels. She might even be wearing some makeup. "What are you doing?"

"I'm just taking a walk," Jeremy answers. "What are _you_ doing?"

"I'm waiting for April," Elena answers. "We're going to that new restaurant, us and Caroline. The Italian one. I'm still trying to get Caroline to tell me what's going on with her and Bonnie but she won't. Do _you _know?"

Jeremy blinks at her. He sees another image of Tyler and Bonnie kissing. He has an idea. "No," he says instead.

_But..._

"Aren't you meeting Bonnie?" he asks.

He specifically recalls her words.

_He wants me and Elena to meet him at the boarding house._

Elena arches her eyebrows and looks at him, confused. "No?"

Jeremy reaches for his phone and holds it. He was angry when he left Bonnie and Tyler but he wasn't so angry he imagined everything she'd said. Stefan _is_ back. "Have you talked to Stefan at all?"

Elena frowns and shakes her head. "Not since he left. You know that." She shakes her head slightly. "Whatever. I'm not thinking about Stefan tonight."

_He got back earlier today. _

"Do you want to come with us?"

_Wants me and Elena to meet him. _

But Elena's going out with April and Caroline.

"_Jeremy_," Elena says, waving a hand in front of his face. "Do you want to come with us?"

Stefan called Bonnie. If he wanted to meet with her, why did he have to mention Elena? If he didn't call Elena, why did he say he did?

"I can't," he says absentmindedly, remembering Elena asked a question. Twice. "I've got a paper to write but next time. I'll see you around."

Elena looks disappointed but says a quiet goodbye. Jeremy starts walking and when he glances back in her direction, she's walking back into the house.

Why would Stefan lie?

Unless...

How could Stefan have found out about them and their plans? He's been gone for a while, doing what they don't know. How would he have learned anything without someone telling him? And who would have told him? No one knew. Lucy did but she never would have talked and Stefan would have been easy for her to handle. Or at least that's what he hopes. He waits until he's put a comfortable distance between himself, Elena, and his house before calling Tyler. He practically runs down the street.

"Jeremy?"

"Are you still at Bonnie's?" Jeremy asks.

"Yeah," Tyler says. "Where are you?"

"Meet me at the boarding house and bring my stuff," he says. "Bonnie's in trouble. I think Stefan knows."

* * *

Stefan's going to kill her. He gripped her throat as he raised another cup of tea to her lips. She'd spat it up and coughed but enough went down that she's back to feeling woozy and powerless. And she's tied to that chair again. He can't keep her subdued like that for long. Eventually he'll run out of herbs and there's no way he's going to let her leave.

He's going to kill her.

Her head is throbbing, her foot went to sleep again, and Stefan is going to kill her.

Bonnie thinks of Tyler and Jeremy.

They can handle Stefan. They'll realize what happened, when she doesn't come back, when she mysteriously disappears and turns up dead in a week or so. Even if Stefan knows they're a threat, a hunter and a hybrid won't have a problem taking him on alone, not if they know what they're dealing with. She just hopes they're able to do it before Stefan enlists any more help, help that could tip the balance and send Tyler and Jeremy following after her into the afterlife.

Even if she dies, Tyler and Jeremy can still finish this.

Stefan paces back and forth in front of the fire. He's considering something but she doesn't know what. Where to stash her body, perhaps?

She wishes he'd just get it over with.

Time to speed up this timetable.

"Do you want to know what we did after? After we killed Damon?"

That night, with those stupid Christmas songs and Jeremy and Tyler with her, throwing back shots.

"We went to a bar a couple towns over. We drank and danced and _celebrated_. It was one of the best nights of my life and I'd do it again. When Tyler and Jeremy kill _you_ I hope they drink over your corpse."

Stefan's face transforms. She glimpses his pointed teeth as a snarl rips its way from his throat. _Here we go_.

It's been a long time since Damon bit her and Bonnie forgot what it felt like to have fangs piercing her skin.

But now she remembers.


	39. Limitless

**Thanks for reading and thank you extra for your reviews! **

* * *

Limitless

Bonnie changes her mind.

While she's bleeding out and drawing in shallow breaths, she changes her mind.

Stefan squats down in front of her, looking at her while she bleeds. Her blood still stains his mouth and his white teeth are saturated in it. Her blood, her life's blood, leaving her.

_I don't want to die._

Qetsiyah's pendant settles against her chest. Her gaze zeroes in on the silver bolt.

Tyler and Jeremy will probably tell Shane she died. Or at least she hopes they will. It would be a shame for him to keep calling her only for her to never answer. He'll think she just dropped off the face of the earth. And how will they get the cure so they can kill Klaus?

Her dying is really going to throw a wrench into everything.

"Bonnie," Stefan says. He touches her neck and she sucks in a breath as his fingers brush against her wound. His fingertips come away bloody and she glares at him as he sucks them into his mouth. "Until now, I'd never bitten a witch. I used to hear witch's blood was more...flavorful somehow. It's not."

_Sorry to disappoint_.

Stefan stands up straight and wipes at his mouth with his sleeve. Now he looks almost presentable. He doesn't glance back at her as he leaves her there to die alone. She thinks she hears him going upstairs.

_I don't want to die_.

Bonnie's reeling and there's a rush going through her. The blood loss, most likely. She's just fading.

How egotistical would it be to think of how sad Tyler and Jeremy will be? She'll never get to tell them...anything. She won't be able to tell Tyler that, despite her running out of the house, she didn't actually regret kissing him earlier. In fact, she really liked it. And if she, by some miracle, makes it out of here she'd kiss him again, just one more time. And she won't be able to tell Jeremy that even though she kissed Tyler it doesn't mean she doesn't feel something for him, love him even. She won't be able to tell them she loves them both. They are her family and her friends and it's been a long time since she's _really_ had either of those things. She won't be able to see them kill Stefan or celebrate with them afterward. There will be no more cookie dough ice cream or vodka and reality television with them. There will be no more crowded bathrooms or more carpooling in the mornings. Jeremy will have to move back in with Elena, and Tyler will go back to his empty house. If Bonnie's not alive to get the cure, how will they kill Klaus so Tyler's mom can come back? Tyler might be able to find Lucy, if he can find where Bonnie stashed her number. And what will her dad do when he finds out she's dead?

It's better not to think about things she can't do anything about.

But she can't help it.

She won't graduate. She won't go to college.

She'll die in the Salvatore's living room with her blood in Stefan's mouth.

Stefan's mouth. The image floats over her in a fuzzy mirage, coming in and out of focus. It reminds her of something else. April Young. Hopefully Tyler and Jeremy will be able to sidestep that prophecy without her. They know what to look for and they'll be in a rush to finish Stefan now that he knows about them. They can probably avoid April ever having to see Stefan or his fangs. And she won't have to feel them slipping smoothly into her neck like Bonnie has.

Could she at least bleed out a little faster?

The blood loss is making her loopy. She'll pass out soon then she can go quietly into the abyss. She barely feels the pain now.

Her head rush becomes persistent and warm. Her body starts to tingle, and her neck feels hot where Stefan bit her. She cranes her head to the staircase, trying to see if he's near. He's not. Whatever he's doing, he's no longer concerned with her. Now that he's bitten her, he can go upstairs to wait for her to die. When he comes back down, it'll be to dispose of her body.

Bonnie looks down at her arms, tied behind her back.

And her veins.

They're black.

* * *

"We get to Bonnie first," Jeremy says. They're at Tyler's car, Jeremy sifting through his duffel bag of gear. They're on the road leading to the house, not wanting Stefan to know they're close. He won't be _that_ surprised to see them, not if he knows everything, but they've got to take whatever element of surprise they can. "Then we'll deal with Stefan."

Tyler nods in agreement. "You go in first. I'll distract him. Find Bonnie and make sure she's okay."

"You go in first," Jeremy insists. "If she's hurt you can heal her, I can't. _I'll_ distract Stefan."

It might be better anyway. Maybe Stefan will be slightly hesitant about killing Elena's little brother. Tyler's a different matter. Stefan might try extra hard to kill him.

"Okay," Tyler says. "If you get the chance to stake him-"

"I'll take it," Jeremy assures him. Tyler doesn't doubt that. It's been awhile since Jeremy's gotten to kill anything, and Stefan's lived way past his expiration date. "Let's go."

They run in the increasing darkness to the boarding house. Tyler could go ahead but he's not leaving Jeremy alone in the dark this close to Stefan's place, not when the younger Salvatore on the beginning of a warpath. When they reach it, the lights are on in nearly all the windows. Stefan must have one hell of an electric bill.

"Go around the back," Jeremy says. "Don't go in until Stefan's out of the house."

Tyler nods. He speeds around the house and stops at the tiny stone porch. It's covered in overgrown weeds. He hears Jeremy yelling.

_"Stefan! Get out here, dick_!"

He's taking the straightforward approach.

Tyler peers through the glass doors. He's got a sliver of a view but the hallway he's staring into is empty. When Stefan appears, Tyler moves away from the glass and waits. He hears the front door open and Stefan stepping out. But he doesn't walk forward. Or at least he can't hear Stefan walking. He's still in the doorway. He's not going far, not far enough to leave his house and his prisoner unprotected.

"_Where's Bonnie_?" Jeremy asks.

"Dying. Possibly dead," Stefan answers.

_No, no, no._

They can't wait any longer. Tyler breaks the door handle and opens the door as quietly as it'll allow.

He steps into the living room where the fire is roaring. One of the dining room chairs sits in the room's center, and there are strands of rope scattered at its feet. When he picks one of them up to examine its end, he sees it's frayed and blackened, as if it's been burned.

_Tyler_.

He jumps at Bonnie's voice. When he turns he sees her, tucked into an alcove and motioning to him with her hands. He can smell the blood before he sees it, before he's even close enough to make it out. It's everywhere. Staining her shirt and sticking to her neck and chest. It's even matted in the ends of her hair. He raises his wrist to his mouth to bite but she grips his wrist and stops him.

It's a bad time to remember her touching him, kissing him, in the kitchen earlier.

_I'm fine_, she tells him. _What's Jeremy doing?_

_Distracting Stefan_. _  
_

Gunfire shatters their silence. Bonnie pulls him further into the alcove as they hear the front door slamming shut. It's not an ideal hiding place, and they can still hear Jeremy outside. He must be throwing himself against the door now. It'll give eventually.

Stefan comes into the room with them. He takes one look at the empty chair and bites out a vicious, "_Fuck!"_

"Stefan," Bonnie says.

Even to Tyler she sounds threatening. There's something in her tone, an undercurrent, that he's never been there before. She doesn't need him or Jeremy to kill Stefan and they all know it. Tyler being there might as well be something of a courtesy. She can kill Stefan with her magic alone. Tyler could sit back and watch if he wanted but Bonnie won't leave him out. They're in this together. It's going to be a group effort.

Stefan turns. When he sees Tyler, he smiles to reveal his pointed fangs. "The whole gang's here," he says. "The unholy trinity."

Tyler can live with that moniker.

Stefan pulls a stake from his back pocket to balance in his palm. He throws it. Tyler could catch it easily but Bonnie does first, eyes narrowed as she holds it in the air. She blinks and the pointed end rotates to face Stefan. "I'd tell you to get a refund on those herbs," she says, "but you won't live long enough anyway."

The stake flies toward him. It would have pierced his heart had Stefan not moved just a modicum of an inch. It slips right past and Stefan wrenches it free.

At the front door, Tyler hears Jeremy get the door open. When he joins them in the living room, he's aiming the gun at Stefan's chest, firing rapidly. A few of the bullets must have embedded themselves somewhere if Stefan's grunts are any indication, but he speeds out of the room and up the stairs. Tyler follows. He gets a hand around Stefan's arm to wrench him backward. He reaches with his other for Stefan's heart.

It's getting complicated and messy. Better to just kill him now. They'll find another vampire for Jeremy to kill.

But Stefan reaches behind him. Tyler didn't realize he had a second stake and he's not prepared to stop him.

"Tyler!"

Jeremy's at the top of the stairs, gun raised.

Jeremy's shot throws Stefan's aim off just enough so the stake slides into Tyler's shoulder instead of his chest. Stefan doesn't try again. Instead he turns into one of the bedrooms and slams the door shut.

"You okay?" Jeremy asks as Tyler pulls the stake out. Its tip is shiny with his blood.

"I'm fine," he says, ignoring the bleeding wound and the stinging pain. He's already healing anyway. "Where's Bonnie?"

Jeremy blinks confusedly. "I don't-"

The door Stefan went through flies open. "In here," Bonnie calls.

Tyler and Jeremy exchange looks before stepping inside. Tyler's not sure whose bedroom they're in, if it's Stefan's or Damon's. Either way it's immaculate. Bonnie and Stefan are in the center of the room. His toes are just slightly off the floor and his body is stiff. The veins bulging from his neck signal his agony. She looks incredibly beautiful that way, with Stefan's life in her hands. He's taller than her already but his hovering adds to his height. She's tiny and covered in blood but she can kill Stefan now if she wants.

Tyler _really _wants her to. He glances to Jeremy and sees him grinning. The feeling is mutual.

Whatever happened earlier has been forgotten. However the kiss with Bonnie divided them, this has fixed it. Maybe this union is temporary but at the moment, they're bound by Stefan's imminent death. This is what they've been waiting for. No forbidden kisses or storming out of houses or embittered "Fuck yous" is going to stop them from being happy about this.

Jeremy's gaze turns Tyler's away and he keeps smiling. They're thinking the same thing: _Finally. _

"Did you still want to talk to him?" Bonnie asks.

"I've got nothing to say," Jeremy answers. "Tyler?"

He wants to say no. It would be easy to finish him off right now and they can all go home. Or they can go to that bar and dance and drink again. A celebration is in order. But he sees the faces of the pack he lost.

Bryant. Lana. Steven. Jack. Adrian. Cora. Sabrina. Chase. Kevin. Casey. Hope. Kim.

"I've just got a few things to say," Tyler says.

"Okay," Bonnie says. She's still smiling when she flicks her wrist and breaks Stefan's neck.

* * *

They secure Stefan to the same chair Bonnie had been in. They don't bother tying him because she holds him effortlessly. When Stefan comes to, the three of them are perched on the sofa. Tyler's sipping from one of Stefan's bloodbags while Bonnie wipes blood from her neck and chest and Jeremy glares at Stefan, stake in hand.

"He's awake," Jeremy says bitterly.

Stefan tilts his head back to stare at them. When Tyler stands to approach, Stefan follows him with his eyes. He's both furious and amused. Possibly he's resigned himself to his fate now. Unlike Damon, Stefan gets to see his coming.

"You killed my pack," Tyler says.

"_Klaus_ killed your pack," Stefan corrects.

Klaus will get his, too. But first, Stefan.

Tyler repeats himself. "_You _killed my pack."

Stefan shrugs his shoulders and sniffs. "You killed my brother."

"Your brother killed my friend," Tyler says. "We can go on like this all night. Then we'll see whose list is longest."

Even Stefan has to admit his and Damon's lists will be miles long in comparison.

"I just want you to know I'm not sorry," Tyler says. "I don't feel bad _at all_. I won't feel bad in a few days or a few years or even on my deathbed. I will only think of this moment - and the moment when we killed Damon - and be _happy_. We have nothing to be sorry for."

"Are you trying to convince me or yourself?" Stefan asks. He licks his lips.

"I don't need convincing," Tyler says, "and I don't care about you."

He looks back at Jeremy who is spinning the stake between his fingers. He's going to love watching Jeremy kill him. He didn't get to see Damon die but he'll be sure to pay attention when Stefan goes.

"Jeremy's going to stake you," Tyler says, "because we need his Mark to grow. That's the only reason I'm not doing this myself."

Stefan lifts his chin defiantly. "Duly noted."

"Jeremy," Tyler says, rejoining Bonnie on the sofa. "Do it."

Jeremy gets up with such enthusiasm it makes Tyler smile. "Moment of truth."

Stefan nods his head slowly. "Looks like."

Jeremy passes the stake from one hand to the other. "Bye, Stefan."

"Bye, Jeremy. Tyler." His lips twitch upward into something resembling a smile. "Goodbye, Bonnie."

Tyler doesn't like him addressing her. The blood on her shirt is mostly dry but he knows who made her bleed. If staking a vampire in the face would kill them, he'd ask Jeremy to do it that way.

Bonnie crosses one leg over the other and tilts her head to the side. "Goodbye, Stefan."

"We're not so different," he says. "You three and us. We're not the only ones who are _deserving_. I'll see you in hell."

Jeremy rolls his eyes. "Keep our seats warm."

Stefan keeps his eyes on Bonnie. If he thinks his staring is going to make her stop Jeremy, he's wrong. She holds his gaze defiantly. Tyler looks away from Bonnie only to watch but Stefan's still looking at her when Jeremy drives the stake into his chest. The rush of elation Tyler feels could be criminal. Is this what serial killers feel like after a successful kill? Does this make _them_ serial killers?

Stefan's eyes widen only slightly at the pain but he relaxes soon after. Even after he's gone and his skin has transformed, becoming cracked and gray, he's staring at her.

Tyler allows himself to look at Bonnie. She's smiling at Stefan's body.

Welcome to Mystic Falls, there are no Salvatores here.

* * *

Outside the house, Jeremy hugs them both. He kisses Bonnie's cheek and claps Tyler on the back before throwing his bag into the backseat of Bonnie's car. It's a good feeling. The night air is cool but his body is warm and humming with energy. He can't wait to get out of her, to get somewhere else. Maybe to that bar or maybe just back to Bonnie's, he doesn't really care. He just wants to do _something _and it has to be something fun.

He glances in Tyler and Bonnie's direction. They're hugging now. He's in such a good mood he can't make himself be bothered by it. When he gets back to them, they're holding hands. She's mostly clean of the blood now but some of it is still in her hair. She'll probably want to get it out before they go anywhere. Oh well, he can wait a little while. He smiles when she takes his hand in her free one.

"Do you think it would be bad form to take his motorcycle?" he asks. He could grab it from the garage now if he wanted. And he could find the keys. It's not like Stefan will be riding it anymore.

"Some would consider killing him to be bad form," Bonnie points out.

That's a good point.

"Would taking his bike make it worse?" Jeremy jokes.

Bonnie and Tyler laugh.

"I've always kinda wanted one," Jeremy adds. "I think I'd look cool on it."

"Shut up," Tyler says, still laughing.

Jeremy gives up. "Fine."

Bonnie clears her throat. "Ready?"

"Ready," Tyler and Jeremy say together.

The boarding house erupts in flames.

_What do you guys think about fire?_ she'd asked. Was it New Year's that happened? It seems so long ago. It was back when Stefan was still alive. Now their lives will be split into two periods: When there were Salvatores and when they were dead. It's an entirely new world now, with them gone. When they wake up tomorrow, the sun will rise, and this town will shine differently. It'll still be fucked up but it'll be a little better.

Bonnie's and Tyler's faces are turned orange by the glow. The heat beats back the crisp air and Jeremy's reminded of a time when he went camping. It was back when his parents were alive, long before he even met Stefan or Damon. It was an easier time. Maybe it'll be easy again.

Jeremy squeezes Bonnie's hand as the fire creeps along the sides of the house and blows through windows. The shrubs in front turn to ash before their eyes. And inside where they can't see, Stefan's corpse is burning, too.

"Good work," Tyler says.

"_Really _good work," Jeremy corrects.

Bonnie tugs on both of their hands. "Let's go home."

* * *

Jeremy rides with Bonnie. She knows it's partly because neither he nor Tyler wants her out of their sight after what happened. And it's also because Jeremy just wanted to. They are contentedly quiet with not even the radio on. She's still smiling and when she looks in Jeremy's direction, he is, too. They left the boarding house burning. Soon someone will contact the fire department about the blaze and they'll come to put it out. It'll probably be Sheriff Forbes who is notified of Stefan's body. And it'll be her who passes on the news to everyone else.

Bonnie, Tyler and Jeremy will have to work on their surprised faces.

They're rounding the curve in the road when Bonnie sees the car. A tiny, white Prius is at the side of the road, lights still on, and the driver's side door open.

"I think that's April's car," Jeremy says.

Bonnie pulls over and Tyler, following behind them, does the same. They walk to the car together and peer through the windshield. April's not there but Bonnie sees her purse in the passenger seat. Her keys are still in the ignition.

"Where is she?" Tyler asks.

Bonnie doesn't know what leads her into the woods. The full moon provides the only light and its so bright she doesn't need much else. Her feet navigate the branches and tree trunks and piles and piles of muddy leaves until she sees what she's looking for.

Besides, the body lying among the trees seems to shine like a beacon, a flashing neon sign of death, calling to Bonnie, and asking her to see her work. Even blind, she would be able to see it: the metallic shimmer of a green dress, bright against the dark earth, skin so pale it's luminous, raven colored hair that blends into the ground, and an angry bite mark, dripping red. The blood marks April's neck and the scooped neckline of her dress.

Bonnie kneels down. She touches April's neck, trying to touch a spot without any blood, and feels for a pulse. There isn't one.

She sucks in a breath and falls back onto her heels. She's shaking but not from the cold. She doesn't realize she's crying until she hears footsteps behind her.

"Bonnie?" Tyler says.

She spins around without wiping her face.

Tyler's eyebrows knit together when he sees her. "What's wrong?"

She should be happy. They've done it. Stefan's dead, all three of them are alive. She can see his mind working, trying to think up some plausible explanation for her distress. Perhaps these are happy tears, maybe she's still reeling from Stefan trapping her at the boarding house and biting her, or maybe her morality is just catching up to her. He hasn't noticed the dead person behind her yet.

April's dead body shines only for her.

Tyler takes a step toward her, still confused. He stops short when he sees. From his angle it's just a pale skinned human with a mane of curly dark hair. "Who is that?"

Bonnie's voice cracks. "April Young."

He goes past Bonnie to kneel down next to her. He touches her gently, feeling for the same pulse Bonnie did. His fingers hover over the vicious bite on her neck while Bonnie's ghost over her own neck, where that bite's supposed to be. "When did he do this?"

"He didn't," Bonnie says. "I did."

Tyler wheels around. She remembers the night she brought him back, killing that nameless man to do it. The Tyler that was furious that night is not the same Tyler that kissed her this afternoon. And that man was guilty of many crimes, as many as Stefan, as many as Damon. April was innocent. They were supposed to protect her from this.

_Bonnie_ was supposed to protect her from this.

"He bit me," she explains. "My natural magic was blocked. I don't even know how I did this."

The blackened veins, the healing rush, death running through her and saving her.

_April's _death running through her. _April's_ death saving her_____._

Bonnie looks up when Jeremy comes through the trees. "I didn't find her," he says, coming up short when he sees Tyler crouched down. "What are you doing?" He glances to Bonnie and he must realize she's crying because he steps forward with a hand extended. "What's the matter?"

Tyler stands. Jeremy doesn't see the body until Tyler steps away from it, and Jeremy squints down. "Is that April?"

Bonnie drops her gaze to the ground again as Jeremy sets his bag on the ground to go to her. He repeats Tyler's actions, feeling for a pulse that doesn't exist. When he turns April's head, Bonnie catches another glimpse of the bloody wound on her neck. She looks away.

"What happened?" Jeremy questions.

"I killed her," Bonnie says.

Shane speaks, back in his office, back in her dream.

_Life pays for life._


	40. Consequences

Consequences

_Life pays for life_.

Shane's voice repeats again and again. It's all Bonnie can hear in these woods. She can't hear Tyler or Jeremy, if either of them is saying anything. Tyler is still with April's body, staring down at her. She can't see his face in this darkness and he's not being at all forthcoming about his opinion. She can't even hear the rustle of leaves or the sounds of midnight critters. It's silent except for Shane's voice.

_It's limitless_.

That's what Expression is.

No limits. No boundaries. No spirits to impede her way.

She thought she was done with consequences.

If these are the ones she'll get now, she'd rather have the spirits. With them, the only person who got hurt was her.

Bonnie can't see anything but April's white skin and the green of her dress.

"What do we do?"

Jeremy's voice is clear as he steps closer to her, where she sits on the ground with her head in her hands. She doesn't speak. Neither does Tyler.

"What do we do?" he asks again.

More silence.

Jeremy repeats himself again. Third time's the charm. Tyler looks up as if he's just now remembering Jeremy's there.

"You guys go home," he says. "I'll take care of April."

"Take care of her _how_?" Bonnie asks.

Tyler tosses Jeremy his keys. "Take my car. I'll take April's back to her house and leave the body there. Someone will find her tomorrow."

Someone. What someone? April's parents are dead. She's just as alone as they are.

Bonnie looks back and forth between Tyler and Jeremy. "We can't do that," she says, like she has another idea. She doesn't. She has no ideas, no thoughts except April is dead and she killed her.

"Do you want to leave her here?" Tyler asks.

Bonnie shakes her head. They can't leave her. But putting April back in her house and waiting until the morning for someone to realize she's not where she's supposed to be is just as bad. She shouldn't be dead at all.

"She was supposed to go out with Elena and Caroline tonight," Jeremy says.

That explains her dress. She wasn't supposed to be out here.

"We've gotta hurry," Jeremy adds. "The fire department, the sheriff, they could already be headed in this direction."

That's right. They just killed Stefan and turned the boarding house into a torch. They can't dawdle in the woods with April's dead body while their cars are parked alongside the road, in full view of anyone that drives past.

"Okay," Bonnie says. She stands up, wiping her hands off on her jeans. It feels like there's more on them than stray flecks of dirt. She doesn't look back at Tyler to see him lift April into his arms. Jeremy touches her shoulder as they walk back to the road, trying to offer her some kind of comfort. But she knows he doesn't know what to say.

None of them knows.

* * *

Jeremy can hear Bonnie crying. Or he could, before she turned on the shower, and was drowned out by the spray of the water. When they got back, she went straight into the house and into her bedroom without talking to him. A few minutes later he heard her going into the bathroom, crying. He tries to think of the times he's seen Bonnie cry. Three times now, more or less.

He can't just sit downstairs while she's crying upstairs and not do something.

Jeremy goes into the bathroom where the steam is so thick it's almost a fog. "Bonnie?"

"Yeah?" she calls, her voice thick with tears.

He steps close to the shower curtain. "It's gonna be okay," he says.

April's body is still clear in his mind. When will it not be? It's as vivid as Stefan's and Damon's. She genuinely liked him, liked everyone it seemed. She got to live in this town blissfully unaware of what happens here, blind to the death and the vampires and the supernatural. She died not knowing she'd been in danger from the very start. The minute someone crosses the town line, they're at risk. When April was born here, she was at risk. When she fell in with them, she was at risk. And it's not just the vampires with the power to hurt her.

Jeremy's seen Bonnie's magic in many forms. He's seen it whimsical and awe inspiring. He's witnessed something religious, as close to religious as he's ever gotten, something beautiful and terrifying. And lethal. But he's never seen it save Bonnie's life before, not like this.

"Bonnie," he says. "Can I open the curtain? I just - I just want to hug you. I don't want you to be alone."

She opens it herself and doesn't try to hide her body at all. He can't tell where her tears end and the water from the showerhead begins.

Jeremy steps in fully clothed and he wraps his arms around her. "It's okay," he says as her arms slide around his torso, where his shirt is already sticking to him. "It's gonna be okay."

Bonnie's fingers clutch at his shirt. She's always been small but now she seems smaller, as if she's folding in on herself. "I only thought of her for a second," she says. "I didn't realize what I was doing. I didn't know. I didn't mean to."

Jeremy touches her hair and rests his cheek on her head. "I know."

"I'm sorry," she says into his chest.

She's not talking to him.

"I'm sorry, April. I'm so sorry."

* * *

Bonnie's sitting on the porch when Tyler gets back. There's a blanket thrown over her shoulders and she's in furry boots and sweatpants, her hair, shiny and wet, is pulled back into a ponytail. She's obviously been crying and she looks exhausted. He just wants to tell her to go to bed. When she wakes up, it'll be just as bad as it is now but at least she'll have gotten some sleep.

It's been a long day.

"Where's Jeremy?" he asks when he reaches the bottom of the steps.

"Taking a shower." She looks up at him. "Did it go okay?"

"Yeah."

If Elena and Caroline were going to look for April, they weren't doing it tonight. April's bedroom still looked like a little girl lived there with the pastel colored walls and stuffed animals. She never got around to redecorating. Maybe she never intended to get around to it. Maybe she liked it the way it was. There were only a couple of years between them. Sometimes Tyler forgets that he's just as much of a kid as April was. He's died, too but April will never get to come back.

Seeing April's body was like a punch to the gut. He didn't even know her, not really. She was just a name, just a face, just Pastor Young's daughter who he never had reason to think about. Now she's a dead name, a dead face, and Pastor Young's been dead for awhile, too. And Tyler put her body back in her empty house after Bonnie accidentally killed her.

"Say something," she says.

"What do you want me to say?"

"I don't know. What are you thinking?"

Tyler sits down next to her and looks out at the street. From here it's so quiet it could be considered idyllic. There's not a hair out of a place and the whole street is still. Before tonight, before finding April, it might just look quiet. Now it looks somber, like everyone got the secret memo to mourn and is taking it very seriously. But no one knows yet, that April and Stefan are both dead. Bonnie, Tyler and Jeremy are holding their breaths, waiting for the other shoe to drop. Even when it does, they still won't be able to breathe. They have things to hide and sympathy to fake.

"I'm thinking," Tyler says, "that you shouldn't be too hard on yourself."

"Why not?"

"You would have died if you hadn't done it," Tyler says.

If Bonnie had died, he doesn't know what he'd be doing right now. Killing Stefan, that's for sure. But after that? What would he do after that? What would matter after that, with Bonnie gone?

"I should have," Bonnie says.

"No," he says immediately. "You're right where you're supposed to be."

She's alive, and she's with him.

"But April should have?"

"No," he concedes. "But-"

"When I killed that man to save your life, you said I shouldn't have because I didn't get to make those kinds of decisions," she reminds him. "This isn't different from that. This is _worse_ than that. April didn't do anything wrong. She didn't deserve what I did to her."

"Bonnie-"

"What's different, Tyler? Tell me what makes _this_ okay when it wasn't before."

It's her this time. He can understand the desperation, the need to see him alive again. If she had died tonight, he would have wanted her back. If someone could have brought her back, he would have demanded it. But if there was a way for Bonnie to save herself, to never have to die in the first place, he'd take that, too.

They all would. They just didn't know it would cost this.

When Tyler doesn't say anything, Bonnie shakes her head. "Stefan was right. We killed them for what they were," she says, "and all the things they did. Then I do _this._"

"_This_ was an accident," he says. "You made a mistake."

"One that cost April her life."

"I made a mistake like that once," Tyler says. It all started with killing Sarah. If he hadn't done that, he wouldn't have been a werewolf, and he wouldn't have been a hybrid. "It's hard. You're here and you don't know why they're not."

"I _know_ why April's not," she says, "because I killed her."

Tyler moves closer to her but she doesn't acknowledge him. "What happened to April - what you did - was terrible. But you're not like Stefan and Damon. What you're feeling right now proves that you're not. You can be sad for April - we're all sad for April. But don't wish yourself away, Bonnie. I'm not sad you're here. I need you."

He swallows. Everything he says to her is loaded and important where it never was before. It's been that way for awhile but now she's in a position to understand the importance. He's never been nervous before. "I want you." _  
_

When will everything he says to her stop being a confession?

Her eyes are still focused on the street.

"Bonnie," he says. "Look at me. Please."

She turns her head and he can see the tears in her eyes, threatening to spill over. "It's gonna be okay. You're gonna be okay."

Bonnie nods. "I know," she says. It's not convincing, not with the tear that trails down her cheek before he brushes it away.

"You are," he assures her. Then he presses a kiss to her forehead, as if to prove it to her.

As he pulls back, she's leaning in. He doesn't realize until her lips are on his. The kiss is fast and slow at once, and so soft he's not sure it's happening until it's over and he can feel her breath against his mouth. He's too stunned to move but she's not.

She stands up and pulls the blanket tighter around her shoulders. "I'm going in."

He listens to her go, taking in the creaking boards of the porch, the _click_ of the door as it opens and closes. He follows the sounds she makes into the house and into the kitchen where she makes herself a cup of tea. When it's done she carries it with her to her room. For awhile, she drinks it quietly. She might have finished it when she starts crying.

* * *

Bonnie forces herself to leave her room. Downstairs Jeremy and Tyler are most likely talking about her, brainstorming strategies to get her through this. She doesn't want them to, and she imagines it'll be harder to do with her in the room. Once she's stopped crying and her eyes no longer feel hot with tears, she joins them downstairs. They pretend like they haven't been talking about her when she turns on the TV and tries to watch something. Anything. But it's late and there are only infomercials. And every dark haired girl on the screen is April Young.

It happened so fast, the three of them going from so high to so low.

They should be at that bar, drinking together and laughing over flammable beverages, downing shots to Stefan's death. But they're not and it's hard for Bonnie to imagine a time when she will ever do that again. It seems unfair somehow, to be capable of happiness and fun when April isn't capable of anything anymore. They're on the couch together, Jeremy on her left and Tyler on her right. Eventually they both go so still she knows they've fallen asleep.

She wants to call Shane, wants to hear what he has to say about it. She wants to know why this happened at all. But it's late and it's not fair to wake him up and make him work her through this grief, too.

Mostly she wants to go to sleep. Hopefully she won't dream of anything. Not April, not her body in the trees, or the shine of her dress. She just wants to sleep. It would be nice to take a break from the guilt and the sadness and just spend a few hours blissfully unaware of anything around her. Just a few hours of that is all she wants.

Jeremy and Tyler are here but they can't understand how she went from being completely satisfied, to totally shocked, to overwhelmingly - _painfully -_ disgusted with herself.

Bonnie turns her head to look at Jeremy. He's an easy sleeper. It doesn't take much. Tyler is a different story. He's seemed tense lately, never relaxed about anything. She thought when they succeeded with this plan, he would be able to relax at least a little. He would be able to breathe. But that went out the window when she killed April. She wants it to be enough, that they're on her side. She wants their support and their acceptance to become hers but it's not working. She tries to memorize the feeling of Jeremy's arms around her and Tyler words - and their gentle kiss - on the porch but she can't think of those things without thinking of all she deprived April of.

She gets Jeremy. She gets Tyler.

April gets nothing.

Welcome to Mystic Falls, where everyone's a killer.

* * *

Jeremy awakens to a phone ringing. He doesn't open his eyes as he reaches into the pocket of his sweatshirt for his phone. He only opens one eye to see Elena's name flashing across the screen, right underneath the glaring 7:03.

_No_, he thinks, pressing ignore. It's too early and he's still half asleep. Whatever Elena has to say can wait until noon.

But then Bonnie's phone is ringing, too.

Jeremy feels her shift next to him on the couch as she shrugs off her blanket. "It's Elena," she says, when she picks her phone up from the table.

"Of course it is."

Bonnie puts the phone to her ear. "Hello?"

Here they go. Here comes the frantic relaying of the news of Stefan's death.

"What happened?" Bonnie asks.

Jeremy and Tyler both sit up, waiting for confirmation.

"I'll come over soon," Bonnie promises. "Yeah, I'll tell them. Bye."

After she hangs up, she stares at the phone for awhile. "They just found out. Sheriff Forbes told Caroline. Caroline told Elena."

"Do they know about...?" He almost doesn't want to say her name because he's so worried about the effect it'll have."

Tyler doesn't say anything. He got to hear the whole conversation anyway.

"Yeah," Bonnie says, letting out a shaky breath. "Caroline went over to check on her after she heard about Stefan. I have to get over there."

"You don't have to," Tyler says finally. He rests his chin on his knuckles. "Maybe you shouldn't."

"And if I don't how will that look?" Bonnie asks. She's supposed to be there. She's Elena's best friend, and she can't _not_ be there. Bonnie not being there is abnormal. "I have to go."

But she doesn't have to go by herself. "I'll go with you," Jeremy says.

"We'll all go," Tyler adds.

It's easier to pretend if they're all doing it.

And they do pretend.

Bonnie hugs Elena when they come in. She's been crying. Caroline's already there and even though her eyes are dry, they haven't been that way all this time. Bonnie looks surprised when Caroline hugs her, squeezing her as tightly as Bonnie's human body will allow. Of the three of them - Elena, Caroline, Bonnie - Bonnie is the only one who looks fine.

She hides it well.

* * *

After April's funeral, Caroline insists they all go to the Grill together, to be "normal". They haven't spent a lot of time together since Stefan died. Elena and Caroline are grieving together. Despite the hug they shared at Elena's house, Caroline and Bonnie are still on the outs so Bonnie keeps her distance. She's grateful for it. Faking sympathy for Stefan is harder than it was for Damon, maybe because this time Bonnie was tied to a chair, interrogated, and then bitten. And she's got real grieving to do.

"My mom says they're looking everywhere," Caroline says, "but they don't have any leads yet." She drums her glossy, bubblegum colored nails on the tabletop and shakes her hair from her eyes. "But we said we weren't going to talk about that anymore today, at least not for the next few hours."

"Yeah, I know," Elena says.

It's been a week since Bonnie, Tyler and Jeremy killed Stefan and watched the boarding house go up in flames. The investigation is being "handled" but that's code for ignored. The way the Council sees it, they're down two vampires without any work on their part. Up until now Damon's and Stefan's deaths were blessings. The only reason they're looking now is because of April, the victim of an unidentified vampire. It wasn't long before Caroline reminded Sheriff Forbes it could have also been a hybrid.

Because apparently there's a spare one running around.

And now the Council is looking for a hybrid, a witch, and a shadowy third. Caroline and Elena are more insistent than ever on getting to the bottom of it.

"We thought they just wanted Damon before," Caroline said, that day at Elena's house, "but if they went after Stefan, who's to say they won't come for us, too? We have to do something."

"Do what?" Bonnie had asked. "We don't even know who they are."

Ever since, they've been trying to figure that out.

Bonnie knows there's nothing to find but it still makes her nervous, to listen to Caroline and Elena talk about her, Jeremy and Tyler as separate and mysterious beings. For as long as Bonnie can remember, the only threesome she's ever been apart of is hers with Caroline and Elena. Theirs seems to exist on an entirely different plane now. She is different people with both of them. Maybe she's the real Bonnie with Jeremy and Tyler, who know this dark side of her, the side that killed Damon and Stefan and murdered April Young.

If Elena and Caroline knew...

Bonnie's relieved that they're changing the subject. She hasn't had to talk about that night much. Jeremy and Tyler try not to bring it up, since it's been tainted by April's death. She'd do anything to go back to what it felt like when they killed Damon, when it was all electricity and secret smiles and hidden happiness. Now she barely has to pretend to be saddened by something. Luckily for her, Caroline and Elena assume it's because of Stefan. As far as they're concerned Bonnie was the closest thing he had to a friend when he died. And they're both too wrapped up in their own mourning to analyze Bonnie's.

Tyler and Jeremy are sitting to her right and Elena and Caroline to the left. Matt is at the end. It reminds her of middle school, back when this was what it looked like. Not _this_ exactly since she hardly ever spoke to Tyler and she wouldn't have hung out with Jeremy, still Elena's stupid little brother, for anything. But there were no vampires then. She can pretend they're those kids again. They are oblivious and innocent. Bonnie has no idea about magic, Tyler hasn't even imagined the pain of turning on a full moon, Jeremy's never wielded a stake, and Elena and Caroline have never tasted blood.

They are normal.

But it's an illusion.

"I'll be back," Bonnie says after ordering a burger and fries. She disrupts everyone by moving. Tyler and Jeremy have to get out of the booth to let her go. As she heads toward the bathroom she hears Caroline coming toward her.

"Hey," she says, reaching out to touch Bonnie's hand. They stop and stare at one another, smiling politely and awkwardly.

"Hey."

"I'm glad you came out with us," Caroline says. Even in all black and prepared to mourn, she shines.

It's not like Bonnie could have just _not_ come. If she didn't go, Tyler and Jeremy wouldn't go. If Tyler and Jeremy didn't go, the other three would ask questions.

Caroline nods. "I'm sorry about everything. I shouldn't have acted like that about the Tyler thing."

She doesn't even know the half of the Tyler thing and Bonnie's not about to tell her, not if Caroline's about to bury the hatchet and send them on their merry way to best friends status again. She doesn't need to know that Bonnie's kissed Tyler twice now and still doesn't have a name for what's happening between them. She doesn't need to know that there's still something with Jeremy and there's no name for that either. Lying to Caroline is becoming so easy it kind o bothers her.

"I just..." Caroline says, letting her voice trail off. "I'm just sorry, okay? After everything it seems stupid. Stefan and April are dead. There are bigger things happening here. There are _always_ bigger things happening here. But you're my best friend, Bonnie. I don't want us to stop being us because of a _boy_."

But Tyler's not just a _boy_.

"I don't want us to either," Bonnie says. It's true. She wants Caroline, with her sunshine and her strength. She doesn't know what Bonnie's done and if Bonnie has her way, she never will. She wants to believe Caroline would say what Jeremy and Tyler did. It was an accident, a terrible accident, but she shouldn't hate herself for it. But how can Bonnie expect Caroline to believe that if Bonnie herself doesn't believe that?

"You're not wearing your necklace," Caroline says.

Bonnie looks down at her chest, where Qetsiyah's pendant had been. She took it off the morning after April died - the morning after she killed April - and she hasn't put it back on. It's too much of a reminder, a reminder of her magic, of Expression, and of the price April had to pay for Bonnie's life.

"The chain broke," she lies.

"Oh," Caroline says. "Well. Anyway." She throws her arms around Bonnie's neck and squeezes.

* * *

When Elena gets home, it feels like more of a tomb than usual. Jeremy's still not coming home and she's beginning to realize he's not ever going to. He likes it at Bonnie's more than he likes it here. He just won't admit it. He's just being nice, humoring his big sister when the mood strikes. She tells herself to stop asking him to come home but she knows she won't. It's not home if Jeremy's not living there with her.

She does some cleaning even though the house is mostly spotless. Since she heard about Stefan, she's been doing a lot of cleaning. It keeps her mind off of it, and cleaning seems like a better way to go than making a bloody mess throughout three counties. Caroline seemed worried Elena might go there, and she seems surprised Elena's holding it together so well.

Grief has almost become second nature now. She expects the next death to break her. Who will it be? Caroline? Bonnie? Jeremy? Matt? If Damon's and Stefan's didn't, the next one will surely do it. Not that there will be a next one. There will be no more. She has to make sure of that.

Lately she's been thinking about that switch Damon and Stefan used to talk about, the tiny little one that turns humanity on and off. It keeps her conscience on and illuminated, keeps her control powered and humming. It's a slippery thing. She can't seem to get her fingers around it. Maybe she's not trying hard enough, a side effect of not wanting it that much. Humanity has never been crippling to her. Maybe it was for Damon at a time. Maybe it was for Stefan all the time. For Caroline, it is easily wielded. It can be the same for Elena and it has been thus far.

From her purse her cell phone vibrates, and Elena can hear it trembling against the leather of her wallet. She speeds to answer it. The number, from out-of-state, isn't one she recognizes.

"Hello?"

"Am I speaking with Elena Gilbert?" a woman asks. Her voice is low and sounds like what Elena imagines velvet may sound like, if velvet had a sound.

"Yes," she answers. "Who is this?"

"My name is Ramona," the voice says. "I have a message from Stefan Salvatore."

"From Stefan?" She can see his face, as clearly as he'd been standing in the doorway the last time she saw him. He'd wanted to talk but she'd rushed him out, told him she didn't want him there if he was going to risk Jeremy's life. She wanted him gone until he figured himself out. It wasn't fair for him to pretend Damon's death didn't hurt them both, for him to drag them all down with him. "Is he...alive?"

"No."

It was a stupid question anyway.

"But I was tasked with contacting you if Mr. Salvatore did not speak with me within a week," Ramona explains.

Elena sits down at the dining room table. "What's the message?"

"Prior to his death Stefan came to me in need of some assistance," Ramona says. "During our time together we were able to determine who murdered his brother, who was very dear to you as well, as I was told."

"Yes," Elena agrees. "They both were."

The list of people she's lost has grown and it keeps growing. Her parents. Jenna. Alaric. Uncle John, even though she hated him. Isobel, who only loved herself. Damon and Stefan, who seemed to make it all bearable.

"Who?" Elena asks. "Who killed them?"

Neither Damon nor Stefan were perfect. Elena knows she's far from it, but she's a vampire now. Whether a cure exists or not, if it's meant for her or not, she is a vampire for now. What's the point in being a vampire, coping with the bloodlust, if she can't protect the people she cares about? What's the point if she can't get her own vengeance? What's the point if she's just going to sit here and let this phantom triad destroy her life and the people in it? What's the point if she can't take care of herself?

"A hybrid, a witch, and a hunter," Ramona answers.

Ramona lists the names like they mean nothing. To her, they might not mean anything. She doesn't know them, hasn't spent her entire life in a town with these people. She hasn't seen Tyler Lockwood in hallways since Kindergarten, hasn't had sleepovers with Bonnie since they were toddlers, hasn't had Jeremy as a brother for all these years. She doesn't know them as an ally, a best friend, and a brother. Friends. She only knows their names.

Ramona adds, "I believe you know them well."

But Elena may know them less than Ramona does.

Welcome to Mystic Falls, where it's hard to know who your friends are.

End

* * *

**And that's a wrap. Thanks for sticking with me this long. It's been fun, more fun than I expected actually. This being my first fanfic and all, it's been a really great ride. I'll have the first chapter of the sequel, Kill Klaus, up soon so be on the look out for it. ****  
**

**You'll be able to find a link (8Tracks) to a mix I made for this on my profile sometime this weekend. **

**Just as a little teaser, the first chapter of KK is titled Happy Birthday, Bonnie. **


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